REVIEWED: GOOGLE PIXEL 4A 5G • MOTOROLA RAZR 5G

ANDROID
ADVISOR
ISSUE

81

5G SPECIAL
BEST 5G SMARTPHONES 2020
CONTENTS

47

Credit: Getty Images/martin-dm

REVIEWS 4
4 Google Pixel 4a 5G
14 Motorola Razr 5G
25 Sony Xperia 5 II
36 Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro

5G
47 What is 5G?
52 Best 5G phones 2020

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 52

Credit: Getty Images/FG Trade

14 25

36

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Google Pixel 4a 5G
Price: £499 (inc VAT) from fave.co/3pam7V8

G
oogle makes excellent cheap but it would perhaps have been a
smartphones for the mid-range good idea to add ‘XL’ to this phone.
market, but the Pixel 4a doesn’t It’s another solid effort from Google,
support 5G. Well, anyone disappointed especially if you want some of the
by that can now be satisfied with the Pixel 5 features at a cheaper price
aptly named Pixel 4a 5G. and with a bigger screen.
However, there’s a lot more difference
than just the mobile networks these DESIGN
phones support. This is far from the same In a nutshell, this is a bigger version of
device with a 5G modem inside. the Pixel 4a when is comes to design.
It’s understandable for Google to A 6.2in display is why it would
highlight the 5G element in the name, have been a good idea to use the ‘XL’

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branding that we’ve seen
in the past. That’s 0.2in
larger than the Pixel 3a
XL and the Pixel 5.
Perhaps Google
thought Pixel 4a XL 5G
was too many characters
but regardless, this is
a pretty big phone. It
doesn’t feel crazy thanks
to relatively small bezels
– although they are The fingerprint sensor is located on the rear of the phone.
nothing special. There
are certainly bigger phones out there. – Just Black. It’s a shame but that’s the
I personally prefer the size of the 4a way it goes unless Google can add more
but for a bigger phone, this has a nice to the range at a later date.
balance and feels comfortable to use.
It’ smaller than the 3a XL and 1g lighter. DISPLAY
With a design matching the regular As I’ve mentioned, the larger screen is a
Pixel 4a, there’s no waterproofing here key reason to get the Pixel 4a 5G. It’s the
and the unibody case is made from biggest of Google’s 2020 phones.
polycarbonate. Google lists it as ‘soft- It keeps the same resolution as the
touch’, which isn’t listed for the regular Pixel 4a, so the larger size means a drop
4a, but they feel identical to me. in pixel density but not enough that it’s
Note that if you’re coming from an noticeable. There’s no need to worry
older Pixel device, the glass section at about the difference on that front.
the top is gone and the camera module It’s still an OLED panel with HDR
is a lot bigger. There’s a good reason for support offering excellent viewing
that on this phone which I’ll cover later. angles, contrast and punchy colours.
The fingerprint scanner, as usual, sits Exactly what you’d expect, and Google’s
on the back and doesn’t have too much always-on display is one of the best on
of a concave shape but works very well. the market giving you the information
Due to the constraints of 2020, the you need at a glance. The ‘Now Playing’
Pixel 4a 5G is only available in one colour feature means the phone even tells you

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12Mp we’re familiar with,

you also get a 16Mp ultra-
wide with a 107-degree field
of view. It’s not immediately
obvious how to switch to
this camera but it’s the ‘.6x’
option of zoom when in the
main camera mode. There’s
also a 2x option, but there’s
no telephoto here, it’s just
digital zoom.
If you’re new to
the Pixel phones, what
The OLED display with HDR support offering excellent Google does it provide
viewing angles, contrast and punchy colours. top-notch photography
without throwing excessive
what music is playing nearby so you amounts of cameras at a phone. The
don’t need to Shazam it. ‘a’ devices normally only have one
It is worth noting that if you’re rear camera and Google does the rest
pondering between this phone and the with clever software.
Pixel 5, the 5’s display is a little smaller at That’s essentially still the case here
6in but importantly offers a 90Hz refresh but the ultra-wide option is a welcome
rate for a smoother experience. There addition and, if you ask me, more useful
are also cheaper phones with 90Hz or than telephoto.
even higher refresh rates. The Pixel 4a 5G is mostly point
and shoot with the app keeping things
PHOTOGRAPHY simple, and messages will pop-up to give
An unusual move sees the Pixel 4a 5G you hand when needed. Performance is
get the same cameras as the Pixel 5. excellent as we’ve come to expect from
Normally Google only provides the a Pixel and the phone can get decent
same main camera but here you also results is basically any situation.
get the secondary ultra-wide lens and Just look at the spores of mould
this is why the module on the back is on the blackberry I quickly shot while
bigger than the 4a. So, as well as the keeping an eye on the dog at the park.

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This photo was taken using the default settings.

Here’s the same scene, but shot using the ultra-wide setting.

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We were impressed by the level of detail in macro shots.

Here’s an example of a photo taken using the digital zoom.

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This photo was taken at night with Night Sight.

Just so you can see the difference, this image was taken without Night Sight.

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Here’s a portrait shot.

Finally, here are examples of a selfie (left) and a portrait selfie (right).

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Not a shot I took a while to perfect models to choose from. This matches
before hitting the shutter button. the regular Pixel 4a, but there’s another
Along with regular shots, portrait big difference between the two phones
mode is up there with the best, although inside. Google has given the phone the
it can never be 100 per cent accurate. A same processor as the Pixel 5 and that’s
new feature is called Portrait Light which the popular Qualcomm Snapdragon
adds a virtual light which you can control 765G we’ve seen in so many phones
after you’ve taken shots. Although, this this year. The LG Velvet and OnePlus
would only appear for photos of people Nord to name two.
but wouldn’t pop up for shots of my dog. That’s more of a shock in terms of the
Low light performance isn’t anything 5 than this phone but makes the Pixel
particularly special but Google has 4a 5G one of the cheapest phones with
Night Sight for when it gets dark and this chipset – although not the cheapest
now automatically switches to it when as I’ll explore later – and the most
needed. As you can see, it’s incredible affordable way of getting a 5G Pixel.
what it can do. As we found with the Pixel 5,
Oh, and the front 8Mp camera is the benchmark figures are oddly
pretty good as well. low here with a similar result to the
While the phone can’t shoot video 730G-powered 4a in Geekbench 5
beyond 4K at 30fps, that should be and lower frame rates in GFXBench
enough for most people. Even shooting despite the same resolution.
at Full HD is nicely crisp and the colours This seems to be down to running
are vibrant. Importantly, the footage is the apps on Android 11 and might
fantastically smooth with a gimbal-like be something that Google fixes in an
feel thanks to excellent optical image update. Fortunately, the real-world
stabilization. When using the video usage is perfectly smooth and I had no
mode, you can switch between different performance issues with the Pixel 4a 5G.
stabilization modes such as Locked,
Active and Cinematic Pan. You can even Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
switch it off, not that you’d want to. Google Pixel 4a 5G: 1,631
Google Pixel 5: 1,625
PERFORMANCE Google Pixel 4a: 1,640
The Pixel 4a 5G has 6GB of RAM and OnePlus Nord: 1,963
128GB of storage – there are no other LG Velvet: 1,928

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GFX Manhattan 3.1 BATTERY LIFE

Google Pixel 4a 5G: 20fps A bigger phone means a bigger battery,
Google Pixel 5: 20fps so the 4a 5G has a 3885mAh cell –
Google Pixel 4a: 27fps essentially 24 per cent bigger than the
OnePlus Nord: 34fps regular 4a. Oddly, the Pixel 5 has an even
LG Velvet: 29fps larger battery at 4080mAh.
There’s no wireless charging here so
As well as specs being impressively you’ll have to buy the Pixel 5 for that, but
similar to the Pixel 5, the 4a 5G has wired charging is 18 watts and can get
something the flagship doesn’t. A rarely the 4a 5G from 0 to 38 per cent in 30
spotted 3.5mm jack sits on top for those minutes. That’s nothing special with most
that still want the simple joy of plugging phones going a lot faster and somehow
in headphones. the Pixel 5 managed 45 per cent.
Other specs include the stuff you’d In the PCMark for Android battery
expect like GPS, NFC and Bluetooth. benchmark, the 4a 5G lasted an almost
Of course, the obvious reason to buy it identical amount to the Pixel 5 – a
instead of the regular 4a is the addition solid 12 hours and 35 minutes. This is a
of 5G – perhaps even if you don’t plan phone that can offer longevity for those
on switching to a 5G plan for a while. looking for it.
I’m a very light user
and I can get three days
out of it without much
trouble. Most users will
comfortably get through
a day and many will get
a couple.

Battery test
Google Pixel 4a 5G: 12
hours, 35 minutes
Google Pixel 5: 12 hours,
34 minutes
Most users will comfortably get through a day and many OnePlus Nord: 11 hours,
will get a couple. 26 minutes

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Charge in 30 minutes • Android 11
Google Pixel 4a 5G: 38% • Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G
Google Pixel 5: 45% (7nm) processor
Google Pixel 4a: 51% • Octa-core (1x 2.4GHz Kryo 475 Prime,
OnePlus Nord: 68% 1x 2.2GHz Kryo 475 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz
LG Velvet: 31% Kryo 475 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 620 GPU
VERDICT • 6GB RAM
In a Google phone bubble, the Pixel 4a • 128GB storage
5G is an excellent device sitting neatly • Two rear-facing cameras: 12.2Mp,
between the other options this year in f/1.7, 27mm (wide), 1/2.55in, 1.4µm,
price. Yet, it gets a lot of Pixel 5 features, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 16Mp, f/2.2,
including the more powerful processor 107-degree (ultra-wide), 1.0µm
and ultra-wide camera. • Single selfie camera: 8Mp, f/2.0, 24mm
Pixel purists looking for an XL model (wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12µm
have basically found it here and will only • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band,
want to consider the flagship 5 if things Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
like wireless charging and a 90Hz refresh • Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
rate display are enough to spend more. • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO,
However, compare the 4a 5G to the QZSS, BDS
wider market and it suddenly looks like a • NFC
bit of an oddball. • USB Type-C 3.1
The OnePlus Nord is a five-star phone • Fingerprint scanner (rear mounted)
and only costs a little more than the • Non-removable 3,885mAh lithium-
regular Pixel 4a and there are a number polymer battery
of other cheaper phones with more • Fast charging 18 watts
impressive specs than the 4a 5G. • 153.9x74x8.2mm
Not loyal to Google’s own-brand line? • 168g
You might well be better off shopping
elsewhere. Chris Martin

SPECIFICATIONS
• 6.2in (2,340x1,080; 432ppi) OLED,
90Hz, HDR touchscreen

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Motorola Razr 5G
Price: £1,399 (inc VAT) from fave.co/3lgZAUy

F
olding phones are still finding their changes, of course, but can’t comment
way in the world and after a shaky on how much difference they’ve made.
start, Motorola is back with a new
version of the Razr. It’s a retro classic DESIGN
reimagined as a modern smartphone With the vast majority of phones on the
with a flexible screen inside. market looking like they come out of
Before we get any further, it’s worth the same cookie-cutter, with a different
noting that we never got the first edition manufacturer logo, it’s refreshing to see
of the Razr in for review, presumably folding phones bringing something new
due to the reliability issues Motorola and exciting to the game. The Razr 5G
experienced. I’ll point out some of the is a flip-phone style like the Samsung

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The Razr 5G looks almost identical to the first iteration.

Galaxy Z Flip, reminiscent of so many arcs in a teardrop shape around the

devices from the late 1990s and 2000s, hinge, so it doesn’t have a harsh crease
which was when the original Razr arrived. – I’ll cover this in more detail in the
Making a phone with a full-size screen section.
screen that folds in half is clearly a tough Opening and closing the Razr 5G is
engineering challenge and a reminder a smooth experience and you can see
that first-gen devices of a new category the display slide down into the chin
are often worth skipping (Samsung had a little and the cogs of the hinge are
issues with the Galaxy Z Fold, too). visible on either side. It just looks and
While the Razr 5G looks almost feels very cool.
identical to the first iteration, Motorola Although the hinge is spring-loaded,
has made various small tweaks to I would say that it’s quite difficult to
improve the experience. And before I open the Razr 5G with one hand. For
get any further, yes, you can open and right-handed users, the volume button
close the phone to answer and end provides a bit of purchase, but this is a
calls like it’s 1999. lot wider and heavier (192g) than the old
It’s namely the hinge that’s school flip phones.
been upgraded to a stainless steel Of course, it’s much easier to close
construction and now has things like one-handed and is very satisfying.
moving support plates. You obviously The other issue is how slippery the
can’t see it, but when shut, the display phone feels due to its polished 3D glass.

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chin, which no longer

has a fingerprint scanner
on it. Instead, it’s on the
back like most Motorola
phones. With the phone
folding in half, this is
much lower down the
device than is typical,
so isn’t a natural resting
place for your fingertip.
Opening and closing the Razr 5G is a smooth experience. It works a lot better than
the Z Flip’s, mind.
It feels pretty sturdy, well made and I find having the tiny power button
luxurious, but you still don’t want to drop on the left a little odd, but the Razr 5G
it, especially in an open position. comes to life when you open it up, so
Should you manage to avoid an you won’t need it often. Like the Z Flip,
unscheduled drop test, you might be the volume buttons work in the correct
wondering about long-term durability. orientation whether the phone is open
Now, I can’t test that so can only tell or closed. I’ve tested the Polished
you that Motorola promises 200,000 Graphite colour here, but you can also
flips or, based on 100 flips per day, over get the Razr 5G in Blush Gold and a
five years of use. new Liquid Mercury.
As I’ve said, the Razr 5G feels very
well put together and doesn’t feel
flimsy in terms of the main chassis.
The screen, of course, is more delicate
and there are some gaps that will
allow dirt in. Luckily, the fact that the
phone shuts with almost no gap, will
help keep everything safe.
They’re no proper waterproofing
here, of course, but the Razr 5G
does have a water repellent coating.
Other changes include a more tapered We tested the Polished graphite option.

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 Overall, I think Motorola
has done a very good job
with the Razr 5G. The novelty
of the fold does wear off a
little over time, but there are
some handy practical benefits
of a design like this.
First, the phone is tiny
when closed and in the words
of my wife: “It even fits in
silly lady pockets”. And while
shut, you can still do plenty of
stuff using the outer display
along with the camera. On the outside of the phone is a 2.7in panel.

DISPLAY opening the phone. You can customize

The folding screen might be the star of which apps are here as well as shortcuts
the show here, but it’s the outer Quick for your favourite contacts.
View Display that makes the Razr 5G It’s even possible to get a keyboard
quite special. It certainly is the USP up to type messages and the like, albeit
when comparing it to the Galaxy Z Flip a fairly small one. You might find yourself
which has a tiny 1.1in display for basic not needing to open the Razr 5G for
information and controls. large chunks of the day. It’s particularly
Motorola has fitted a decent 2.7in handy when out and about and you
(800x600) screen which can do a lot just want to do something quickly with
more. As well as being used for the minimal fuss.
camera, which I’ll talk about later, you When you do open the phone up,
can quickly check your notifications with you get a 6.2in pOLED display with an
peek view by tapping and holding on HD+ resolution (an unusual 2,142x876).
each one for starters. The ‘p’ standing for plastic in order for
You can then check them in full and the screen to be foldable.
also run some apps here too including It’s plenty bright enough (I measured
Spotify and Google Maps giving you peak at nearly 500 nits) and the quality
playback control and directions without is good. It’s a little soft on colour and

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10 mean you have to swipe

up from the bottom to go
home. The chin makes this
awkward, so you might want
to consider switching back
to the older three-button
navigation bar.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Yet another benefit of the
clamshell design is the fact
When you do open the phone up, you get a 6.2in you can use the main ‘rear’
pOLED display with an HD+ resolution. camera for selfies. This is why
Motorola calls it “the most
contrast compared to many top phones advanced selfie camera”.
but they don’t fold. However, the Z Fold It’s a 48Mp sensor and there is
is more impressive here with a punchy another 20Mp one inside if you do need
AMOLED display at a higher resolution. it, but I didn’t need that one at all – only
There is a slight dip in the middle using it to include samples here.
and two smaller ones either side. They’re Using the main camera for selfies is
not really visible while using the screen, so easy because the outer Quick View
but you can feel them as you scroll. I Display is used for a live preview, so you
didn’t find them distracting, it just feels can frame your shot with minimal fuss.
different to a regular smartphone and By default, it takes these in a square 1:1
that’s just a trade-off you have to accept aspect ratio but you can change that.
to get a folding phone – for now anyway. Almost needless to say, the results
Apart from getting used to the feeling are better than the internal camera and
of it compared to a non-folding phone, when open, the small screen can display
I found one thing particularly annoying a cartoon face when detecting a person
about the Razr 5G. And that’s the way which might help to get kids to look at
the chin gets in the way of using the very the camera.
bottom of the screen. Like other phones, you’re actually
This is namely an issue because the getting a 12Mp final image from
gesture navigation controls in Android the camera and it’s capable of some

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 The
Motorola
Razr 5G
takes great
landscape
and macro
photos.

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Night
Vision
mode (top)
improves
over a
regular
shot
(bottom),
but there
are far
better
examples
of this
in other
phones.

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 In this
portrait,
you can see
how my ears
have been
blended into
the brickwork
in the
background.

impressive shots partly thanks to a

decent f/1.7 aperture and OIS (optical
image stabilization).
My test photos look great for
landscape and macro shots, but the
camera falls down on two modes that
people will use a lot.
Portrait mode can do a good job but
also makes errors – see how my ears
have been blended into the bricks in the
background in the photo above. It also
doesn’t work on animals, so I couldn’t
take bokeh shots of my dog.
Night Vision mode is the other,
which does improve over a regular shot
Finally, here’s an example of a selfie. (low light performance isn’t great), but

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there are far better examples of this in Much of this matched the Z Flip,
other phones. although that does have a Snapdragon
While it’s able to take nice detailed 865+ if you want more power – or the
shots with good colour in the right 855+ in the 4G model.
conditions, the fact remains that the
level of performance is available on even Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
some budget phones now. And they Motorola Razr 5G: 1,894
often have additional cameras. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (4G): 2,424
Video performance is also average, Samsung Galaxy Fold: 2,478
capable of shooting in up to 4K at 30fps. OnePlus 8 Pro: 3,316
Motorola is restricted by the form Huawei P40 Pro: 2,995
factor here, so it’s just a trade-off for Oppo Find X2 Pro: 3,295
the flip design. The Z Flip has dual rear
cameras adding an ultra-wide lens but GFX Manhattan 3.1
there’s still a trade-off here as going with Motorola Razr 5G: 48fps
Samsung means not having that proper Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (4G): 38fps
outer display. Samsung Galaxy Fold: 50fps
OnePlus 8 Pro: 43fps
PERFORMANCE Huawei P40 Pro: 52fps
The Razr 5G isn’t really about the core Oppo Find X2 Pro: 43fps
specs, but for those interested the
phone runs on a Snapdragon 765G. A Battery test
popular processor this year, and although Motorola Razr 5G: 6 hours, 24 minutes
the asking price here might suggest a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (4G): 9 hours,
flagship 800-series, the 765G is good 30 minutes
enough to offer smooth performance. Huawei P40 Pro: 12 hours, 12 minutes
It’s certainly a step up from the Oppo Find X2 Pro: 8 hours, 44 minutes
Snapdragon 710 in the 2019 Razr and
there’s also more RAM now at 8GB. I Charge in 30 minutes
didn’t have any performance issues in my Motorola Razr 5G: 39%
time with the phone. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (4G): 45%
Furthermore, Motorola has doubled Samsung Galaxy Fold: 63%
the storage to 256GB which is great Huawei P40 Pro: 78%
considering there’s no microSD card slot. Oppo Find X2 Pro: 97%

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 When it comes
to battery life,
I’ve found the
Razr 5G to last
reasonably well.
It’s got a relatively
small 2,800mAh
battery due to
design constraints
and will last
most people a
day depending
on usage.
I did manage The Razr 5G has a relatively small 2,800mAh battery due to design
to get the Razr 5G constraints, but it will last most people a day.
to last two days,
but with pretty light usage and screen VERDICT
time of around two hours. There are some downsides to getting a
Motorola supplies a TurboPower foldable flip phone and you’ll need to
charger which offers 15-watt fast be okay with these before splashing out
charging. It’s nothing special these days on one. The form factor simply means
and can get the Razr 5G from 0 to 39 that you can get cheaper phones with
per cent in our usual 30 minute test. better cameras, longer battery life and
It’s worth noting that there is no higher-quality screens. These are the
headphone jack here so if you’re main trade-offs to get a folding phone
charging the phone, you won’t be right now.
able to plug in the supplied USB-C However, they’re not as exciting as
headphones – which are very nice. In the Razr 5G and you might want this
terms of on-board sound, there’s just a for something different or even the
mono speaker at the bottom of the chin nostalgic factor. There’s no denying its
which is nothing to write home about. head-turning cool factor.
Beyond 5G, internal specs include Buying for somewhat fickle reasons
NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and dual-band is totally fine, but the Razr 5G does
11ac Wi-Fi 5. have genuine practical benefits that will

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be a boon so some people. As well as • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band,

being compact, it’s actually how well Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
the phone works when shut which is the • Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE
main lure here. • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO
Granted, the Galaxy Z Flip has better • NFC
cameras, display and a more powerful • USB Type-C 3.1
chip, but I think I’d still choose the Razr • Fingerprint scanner (rear mounted)
5G for its design. It’s a close call between • Non-removable 2,800mAh lithium-
the two which will largely come down to polymer battery
personal preference. • Fast charging 15 watts
After a rocky start, the Razr 5G is a • Unfolded: 169.2x72.6x7.9mm;
good folding phone to own. In the grand Folded: 91.7x72.6x16mm
scheme, it’s an affordable way to get a • 192g
folding phone and it will be interesting to
see there Motorola and Samsung do in
the future. Chris Martin

SPECIFICATIONS
• 6.2in (2,142x876; 373ppi) Foldable
P-OLED touchscreen
• Android 10
• Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G
(7nm) processor
• Octa-core (1x 2.4GHz Kryo 475 Prime;
1x 2.2GHz Kryo 475 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz
Kryo 475 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 620 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB storage
• Single rear-facing camera: 48Mp, f/1.7,
26mm (wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8µm, PDAF,
OIS
• Single selfie camera: 20Mp, f/2.2,
(wide), 0.8µm

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Sony Xperia 5 II
Price: £799 (inc VAT) from fave.co/36kBTo2

A
fter almost three years of steady in-demand consoles in history, a brand
decline, Sony’s smartphone sales which is recognized globally for its TVs
have finally begun to stabilize. and audio equipment.
In the three months to the end of For its 2020 phones, Sony has taken
September 2020, the company shipped inspiration from another of its key
around 600,000 Xperia phones, roughly revenue streams – mirrorless cameras. As
on par with Q3 2019. such, the successor to last year’s Xperia
Nonetheless, this still accounts for a 5 is known as the Xperia 5 II (or mark 2).
tiny fraction of the global smartphone It looks like a big upgrade on paper, but
market. It would seem a curious failure how does that translate to real-world
for the company behind one of the most usage? Here’s our full review.

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DESIGN The screen itself is Full HD

The design of the Xperia 5 II is unlike (2,520x1,080) AMOLED panel, the most
any phone I’ve tried this year, which is noticeable downgrade when compared
impressive going. It’s something of a to the flagship Xperia 1 II’s 4K display.
fusion of old and new: legacy features However, you do get a key feature that’s
such as the 3.5mm headphone jack not available on the more expensive
and notch-less display combine with a phone – a 120Hz refresh rate. I’m fully
gorgeous screen and premium build aware that this isn’t a priority for most
quality. It works as a complete package people, but I’d argue the same could be
in my opinion, and is satisfying to hold. said for 4K on a screen this size. Faced
The phone feels a lot more compact with a choice between the two, I’d go for
than the 6.1in display might suggest, due the 120Hz every time.
in part to the tall and narrow 21:9 aspect It’s hard to explain what benefit
ratio. That’s something we also saw on this provides if you’re used to 60Hz
last year’s Xperia 5, but it’s still relatively screens, but everything feels that bit
unusual and so feels like a standout slicker and smoother. Casual users might
feature. The same things still apply here notice this most on endless scrolling
– it’s almost impossible to reach the top social media apps like Twitter, but the
of the phone one-handed, but many key performance boost will be seen in
films look stunning without letterboxing. gaming. You might notice a slight hit to
battery life, but
I think it’s more
than worth it.
The glass back
of the phone
is predictably
a fingerprint
magnet, although
the smudges are
less noticeable on
the black model
I tested. It’s
also surprisingly
The Sony feels more compact than the 6.1in display might suggest. durable – both

26 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

the front
and back are
equipped with
Gorilla Glass 6,
and it makes a
big difference
to how robust
the phone
feels.
It is
relatively
slippery
though, so I
often worried The fingerprint scanner has been incorporated into the power button.
about it
sliding off a table or out of a pocket. The pretty quick and generally reliable, but
protruding camera module also made more sensitive to moisture than rear-
it nearly impossible to use the device mounted equivalents. My experience
while face-up on a flat surface, so I’d with in-display scanners has been
recommend throwing on a case. That underwhelming thus far, so I’m glad
vertical module houses three lenses: Sony stuck with a physical one.
12Mp wide, 12Mp ultra-wide, 12Mp Another nice touch is the SIM card
telephoto – an identical set-up to the tray, which has a little lever for releasing
Xperia 1 II. On the front, you also get it without an ejection tool. There’s
the same 8Mp selfie camera, but we’ll USB-C, as you’d expect, as well as two
explore how they perform in detail later. further physical buttons on the right side
Sticking with slim bezels means Sony of the device. One launches Google
has found room to squeeze in a pair of Assistant and the other acts as a shutter
front-facing speakers, and they make a button for the camera, although neither
big difference to the audio experience are re-mappable.
on the Xperia 5 II. The company has
also overcome earlier patent issues PERFORMANCE
to build the side-mounted fingerprint The Xperia 5 II is powered by a top-
scanner into the power button. It’s of-the-line Snapdragon 865 processor,

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 27

REVIEWS

which combines with an Adreno 650 GPU Sony Xperia 1 II: 59fps
and 8GB of RAM. Qualcomm’s flagship OnePlus 8T: 61fps
processors are by no means reserved Samsung Galaxy S20: 50fps
for only the most expensive phones Oppo Find X2: 45fps
anymore, but it’s still good to see it here.
Performance is predictably excellent, Audio quality can be overlooked
breezing through web browsing, social on modern phones, due in part to the
media and multitasking without issue. popularity of wireless headphones.
Sony’s confidence in the Xperia 5 Nonetheless, sticking with bezels means
II’s performance is illustrated by the the Xperia 5 II has room for dual front-
inclusion of Call of Duty: Mobile out of facing stereo speakers that perform
the box, known to be one of the most extremely well. There’s a richness to the
graphically demanding games on the sound and impressive level of bass, both
Play Store. This is where the 120Hz things you won’t find on many handsets.
refresh rate comes into its own, offering The Xperia 5 II also adds 5G to its
ultra-smooth gameplay and no lag. predecessor, but with the technology
That’s illustrated in the below still in its infancy, I wasn’t able to test out
benchmarks. It’s worth noting that some how well it works.
phones max out at 60fps on some of
the GFXBench tests, so the Xperia 5 II’s SOFTWARE
performance gain over its predecessor The Xperia 5 II comes running Android
isn’t as huge as the results suggest: 10, although an update to Android 11 is
in the works and expected soon. Sony
Geekbench 5 (multi-core) typically keeps its Android skin pretty
Sony Xperia 5 II: 3,347 light, and that’s no different here – it’s
Sony Xperia 5: 2,749 relatively close to the so-called ‘stock’
Sony Xperia 1 II: 3,369 version you’ll find on Pixel phones.
OnePlus 8T: 3,133 That being said, there are various
Samsung Galaxy S20: 2,299 smaller software tweaks dotted around
Oppo Find X2: 3,309 the user interface. Chief among these are
the ‘Cinema Pro’ and ‘Photo Pro’ apps,
GFX Manhattan 3.1 which provides granular control over the
Sony Xperia 5 II: 69fps way you capture photos and videos using
Sony Xperia 5: 44fps the Xperia 5 II. The ‘Pro’ name is justified

28 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

here: you can’t just
pick up these apps
and start using
without at least
some expertise,
hence why Sony
has included
them as separate
standalone apps.
Unfortunately,
these aren’t the
only apps that can’t
be uninstalled. The
likes of Facebook,
Netflix and Call of The Cinema Pro and Photo Pro apps provide granular control
Duty: Mobile aren’t over the way you capture photos and videos.
what you’d typically
think of as bloatware, and a lot of people extreme battery saving mode known
buying this phone may get value out of as ‘STAMINA’, while in display settings
them. I just think Sony could have at least ‘Creator mode’ gives the display a more
provided the option to remove them rich, cinematic quality.
from the device. At least you don’t have
to worry about it taking up too much of PHOTOGRAPHY
your storage, with the phone supporting The cameras on the Xperia 5 II are
expandable storage via microSD card. largely unchanged from its predecessor.
There are a number of smaller The triple rear set-up is comprised of a
software tweaks dotted around the 12Mp wide, 12Mp ultra-wide and 12Mp
user interface. ‘Side sense’ is on the telephoto. I’m glad Sony decided not to
far-right side of the display and allows include further macro or depth sensors,
you to quickly launch certain apps or which sound good on paper but rarely
start multitasking. It’s similar to the Edge provide any tangible benefit.
panel you’ll find on Samsung phones, The Photo Pro app allows you to
although doesn’t make as much sense customize image settings to your liking,
on the flat display here. There’s also an just like you would on a mirrorless

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 29

REVIEWS

camera. It’s something I’d recommend which type of scene you’re in and adjust
if you’re serious about taking photos the image accordingly, saving you from
using this phone, as the auto mode in cycling through menus to find the option
the default camera app was extremely you want. That includes night mode,
hit-and-miss. which does a good job of brightening
Exposure was the main area it the shot but did sacrifice on some detail.
seemed to struggle with, often blowing Shots from the 8Mp selfie camera
out the background or losing detail in are impressive overall, offering a good
darker areas of the image. In wide-open level of detail and accurate colours.
spaces it performed better, tending Curiously, this lens tends to do much
to saturate stills slightly but offering better with exposure.
excellent dynamic range. The Xperia 5 II is also able to capture
Despite the lack of macro lens, close- footage up to 4K at 120fps. In the
up shots were very impressive, while it regular 1080p mode, the inclusion of
was also good at capturing detail on OIS means the footage is very stable,
buildings. I did like that the main camera although it does take a while to focus as
app uses AI to automatically detect you move the camera around.

We’ll start
off with
three
photos of
the same
scene.
This image
is taken
using the
wide-angle
setting.

30 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 Here’s a
wide-angle
shot.

Finally, this
was taken
with the 3x
zoom.

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 31

REVIEWS

Despite
the lack
of macro
lens, close-
up shots
were very
impressive.

It was also
good at
capturing
detail on
buildings.

32 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 Shots from
the selfie
camera
offer a
good level
of detail.

BATTERY LIFE back to the phone after a couple of hours

The phone comes with a 4,000mAh and notice that the battery had depleted
battery, identical to the Xperia 1 II and a by quite a few per cent.
big increase over the 3,140mAh cell on The phone supports fast charging at
last year’s Xperia 5. 21 watts, but there was only an 18-watt
That’s reflected in the benchmarks, adapter included in the box. This still got
as I recorded 12 hours, 15 minutes and me 48 per cent in 30 minutes from off, so
15 hours, 5 minutes in Geekbench 4 you’re looking at little over an hour for a
and PCMark’s battery tests respectively. full charge.
From using the phone for an extended
period, these feel pretty accurate – I was Battery test
comfortably able to get a couple of days Sony Xperia 5 II: 12 hours, 16 minutes
of moderate usage before reaching for (120Hz)
the charger, even at 120Hz. Sony Xperia 5: 9 hours, 5 minutes
I did notice it struggle slightly for Sony Xperia 1 II: 10 hours, 41 minutes
standby time, though – I’d often come OnePlus 8T: 13 hours, 24 minutes

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REVIEWS

Samsung Galaxy S20: 5 hours, 36 in 2020, but after using the Xperia 5 II I
minutes (120Hz) wish they were still on more phones.
Oppo Find X2: 9 hours, 40 minutes There are plenty more highlights
here, which make it a big upgrade over
Charge in 30 minutes last year’s model. The stunning 21:9
Sony Xperia 5 II: 48% OLED display is now 120Hz a feature you
Sony Xperia 5: 53% won’t find on even the more expensive
Sony Xperia 1 II: 46% Xperia 1 II. Performance is superb across
OnePlus 8T: 91% the board, while the all-too-rare front-
Samsung Galaxy S20: 56% facing stereo speakers are a delight.
Oppo Find X2: 96% However, it’s not all good news. The
cameras flatter to deceive unless you’re
One of the big compromises you’re willing to play around in the Photo
making when compared to the Xperia Pro app, while a surprising amount of
1 II is the lack of wireless charging. bloatware taints an otherwise excellent
This wasn’t a big deal for me, but I software experience. There’s also no
understand the prevalence of wireless wireless charging, a major omission at
chargers these days may make it a this price point.
deal-breaker for some. Nonetheless, we There’s definitely a market for the
shouldn’t be talking about this being a Xperia 5 II, but it’s unlikely to contribute
missing feature on an £800
phone, particularly when
it’s available on phones a
quarter of the cost.

VERDICT
In a world where so
many smartphones
look similar, I have to
admire Sony’s desire to
be different. Having a
notch-less display and
3.5mm headphone jack The Sony’s cameras flatter to deceive unless you’re willing
is practically unheard of to play around in the Photo Pro app.

34 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

to a sudden increase in Sony’s slice of the • Fast charging 21 watts
smartphone pie. Anyron Copeman • 158x68x8mm
• 163g
SPECIFICATIONS
• 6.1in (2,520x1080; 449ppi) OLED,
120Hz, HDR BT.2020 touchscreen
• Android 10
• Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865
(7nm+) processor
• Octa-core (1x 2.84GHz Kryo 585, 3x
2.42GHz Kryo 585, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo
585) CPU
• Adreno 650 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• Three rear-facing cameras: 12Mp,
f/1.7, 24mm (wide), 1/1.7in, 1.8µm,
Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; 12Mp, f/2.4,
70mm (telephoto), 1/3.4in, 1.0µm,
PDAF, 3x optical zoom, OIS; 12Mp,
f/2.2, 124-degree, 16mm (ultra-wide),
1/2.55in, Dual Pixel PDAF
• Single selfie camera: 8Mp, f/2.0, 24mm
(wide), 1/4in, 1.12µm
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band,
Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, aptX HD, LE
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS,
GALILEO, QZSS
• NFC
• USB Type-C 3.1; USB On-The-Go
• Fingerprint scanner (side mounted)
• Non-removable 4,000mAh lithium-ion
battery

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 35

REVIEWS

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro

Price: £599 (inc VAT) from fave.co/35dclcV

X
iaomi announced Mi 10T Pro Add to that a mostly appealing
alongside Mi 10T and Mi 10T design, strong performance and hi-res
Lite at the end of September, audio, and it’s difficult to understand
and we’ve spent the past few weeks exactly what is mid-range about Mi 10T
vigorously testing Mi 10T Pro. Pro – aside from the price, of course.
Our first impressions are extremely
positive. This is a mid-range phone with DESIGN
a huge 5,000mAh battery that turned When I tell you that looking at Mi 10T
in the highest PCMark battery life score Pro is like looking in a huge shiny mirror,
we’ve seen to date, a super-smooth it might sound conceited when I tell you
144Hz display, a triple camera that that it’s gorgeous. Of course, I am talking
headlines with a 108Mp lens and 5G. about the phone, which comes in three

36 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

The triple-lens camera module raises the phone when it is on a flat surface.

attractive finishes: Cosmic Black, Lunar only when stroking Mi 10T Pro like it’s
Silver and Aurora Blue. The latter is one your favourite pet. We won’t judge you:
of the few differentiating factors between it is rather pretty.
this Pro model and the standard Mi 10T. Alas, it’s not perfect. With the Pro you
Reviewed here in Cosmic Black, Mi trade some of this promised elegance for
10T Pro is not the type of phone you photography smarts, and the triple-lens
hide away in a case – and you needn’t camera module is just too big – by which
do so either, with protective Gorilla Glass we mean it steps out way too far from
5 and a strong aluminium frame feeling the back of the phone.
very sturdy in the hand. There’s also a Check out our photo above to see
silver ion coating, which is apparently how much this raises the top half of the
good for fighting off germs, but no phone on a flat surface. Using Mi 10T Pro
certified waterproofing rating (Xiaomi on said flat surface is worse still, with the
says it is splashproof). camera positioning causing the phone to
It is a chunk – not dimensionally constantly rock like a crazed Weeble.
but in weight, with that 5,000mAh Flip it over and Xiaomi has more to
battery contributing to its 218g load. It shout about: this is a buttery-smooth
feels somehow heavier still, and that is 144Hz panel with HDR, 6.67in on the
a frustration. diagonal, and the perfect companion
But every inch of Mi 10T has been for fast-moving frame rates in games.
buffed up to a premium, super-glossy You can step things down to 90- or
shine, and there’s not a single sharp 60Hz to save on battery power if
edge. Fingerprints are a thing, but far you like, and AdaptiveSync tech can
from its Achilles heel: a major problem automatically select a refresh rate

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 37

REVIEWS

between 30- and

144Hz depending
on the app
you’re using.
With the
flagships only
just moving into
120Hz display
territory, it is an
impressive feat for
a mid-ranger to
step in with 144Hz
– even if few The DotDisplay tucks the 20Mp selfie camera almost out of sight in
games currently the top left corner.
support it.
Unlike most flagships, however, this is tucks the 20Mp selfie camera almost out
a Full HD+ display, and Xiaomi has yet of sight in the top left corner.
to venture into Quad HD with any of But one of my favourite things about
its smartphones. the display is that it doesn’t have an
Brightness and viewing angles are integrated fingerprint sensor – and it’s
strong, but vibrancy and contrast are not on the back either. It’s actually in the
lacking when
compared to the
OLED screens
found higher up
Xiaomi’s product
line. For Mi 10T
Pro it specifies an
IPS LCD panel,
albeit a very
decent one.
I’m also liking
the very modern
DotDisplay, which The fingerprint sensor is located in the power button.

38 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 two directions it
is less likely to
get muffled, and
you don’t need to
point the speaker
directly at you
to get the best
experience.
Quality
is okay, only
occasionally
distorting in our
There’s no 3.5mm audio jack here. tests, but there
is a constant hiss
power button, which I think is the most that can just be heard above the music,
natural, effortless placement of all (unless and we’d appreciate more oomph to
you’re a leftie). the bass and a tad more volume. There
The sensor is so efficient and reliable is definitely room for improvement.
that were it not for the haptic feedback
you wouldn’t even realize you were PERFORMANCE
unlocking the phone. The haptic engine Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 SOC
is very good. powers the Mi 10T Pro. This is a flagship
There are a few deviations from chip, which integrates an X55 modem
Xiaomi’s usual design blueprints, with for 5G connectivity, plus an Adreno 650
the SIM slot on the bottom edge and, GPU. Unlike Mi 10T this Pro version also
though you still get the company’s comes with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM as
trademark IR blaster up top, there’s no standard, a choice of 128GB or 256GB
3.5mm audio jack here. of UFS 3.1 storage, and an interior
Instead, Mi 10T Pro offers hi-res audio liquid-cooling system.
via its USB-C port, or you can pump out Only two phones have bested Mi
audio from its ‘super-linear’ speakers. 10T Pro in our Geekbench 5 benchmarks
Don’t let the single grille fool you: this is – Xiaomi’s own Black Shark 3 and the
a dual set-up that also uses the earpiece OnePlus 8 – and only just. For pure
for playback. With sound firing out in processing power this is one of the best

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 39

REVIEWS

phones you can buy (or, rather, will soon Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
be able to buy). Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: 3,388
Another benchmark in which the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE: 2,934
Pro reigns supreme is the PCMark for OnePlus 8: 3,400
Android Work 2.0 battery test. Turning in Oppo Find X2: 3,309
14 hours 55 minutes, this is the highest Sony Xperia 1 II: 3,369
score we’ve seen since we began using Xiaomi Black Shark 3: 3,440
this benchmark. Xiaomi’s Poco X3 NFC
comes close with 14 hours 24 minutes, GFX Manhattan 3.1
but nothing else touches it. Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: 50fps
We also battery test with the older Samsung Galaxy S20 FE: 59fps
version 4 of Geekbench for comparison OnePlus 8: 60fps
reasons, and here the Pro turned in an Oppo Find X2: 45fps
incredible 14 hours, 24 minutes. That’s Sony Xperia 1 II: 59fps
an incredible score, beaten only by Xiaomi Black Shark 3: 60fps
Redmi Note 9S. It’s real-world usage that
matters, of course, and with a meaty Battery test
processor and a powerful display the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: 14 hours, 55 minutes
battery is going to drain faster than it Oppo Find X2: 9 hours, 55 minutes
might on a low-end phone. You can turn Sony Xperia 1 II: 11 hours, 57 minutes
down the 144Hz default, set automatic
brightness and make other adjustments Connectivity is pretty strong, too.
to prolong battery life. This is a dual-SIM phone that supports
In our tests the battery is very good, 5G, with a peculiar-looking SIM tray that
and it will be easily possible to get requires you to put one SIM on each side
two days from this phone – of course, rather than sitting them in a row. There’s
dependent on your usage. no space here to swap in a microSD
Our final test is with GFXBench, card rather than use the second SIM.
a graphics test that has several Also missing is the aforementioned
components with varying levels of headphone jack, but you do get the IR
intensity. The Pro recorded playable blaster, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS and
frame rates in all, but performed Wi-Fi 6.
slightly lower than some of the 120Hz Wired charging is fast at 33 watts, but
display competition. there’s no wireless charging. A 33-watt

40 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

wired charger is said to be supplied in A Samsung HMX model, this monster
the box, but we didn’t get a box with lens uses Xiaomi’s 4-in-1 Super Pixel to
our sample. We therefore were unable combine four ordinary pixels into one
to test how fast it charged from zero in extraordinary pixel, so unless you select
30 minutes, which is our usual test, but the 108Mp mode you’ll actually get
Xiaomi claims you can get to 100 per 27Mp images. It supports optical image
cent in 59 minutes. stabilization and is specified with an
f/1.69 aperture and large 1.6µm pixels,
PHOTOGRAPHY allowing the camera to capture more
The camera is a key selling point for Mi light.
10T Pro, and the primary distinguishing This is one of three lenses on the
point between this model and Mi 10T. rear, though the design of the phone
Whereas the cheaper phone has a might momentarily fool you into
six-piece 64Mp lens headlining in its thinking there are five: Xiaomi has
triple-camera set-up, Mi 10T Pro goes strived to keep things symmetrical, so
all out with a seven-piece 108Mp lens tucked in beside the other sensors are
that boosts the digital zoom from 10x an LED flash and what looks like another
to 30x and adds support for 8K video. lens but is merely decoration.
It’s the same camera as that in the The other two, then, match those
flagship Mi 10 Pro. on the Mi 10T: a 13Mp ultra-wide-angle
lens with a
123-degree field
of view, and
a 5Mp macro
camera that
can shoot at
2cm distance.
There is no
telephoto lens.
You can see
a selection of
test shots below,
A Samsung HMX model, this monster lens uses Xiaomi’s 4-in-1 Super and you’ll
Pixel to combine four ordinary pixels into one extraordinary pixel. immediately

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 41

REVIEWS

The Xiaomi’s camera is set to ultra-wide aspect ratio by default.

The Mi10T Pro captures incredible detail.

42 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

The background of some shots is blurred a little too much.

The camera does a good job of capturing colours.

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 43

REVIEWS

notice the ultra-wide aspect ratio of the 9. This is one of the ways Xiaomi keeps
camera using the default settings. You down costs and is able to offer such
can alternatively choose 1:1, 3:4 or 9:16 incredible value for money, with the
ratios, but as a rule we test using the company making no more than 5 per
out-of-the-box settings. cent profit on any of its hardware.
It is clear that Mi 10T Pro is capable To be fair, it’s definitely not as in your
of capturing incredible detail, and we face as on that much cheaper phone,
found it very fast to focus, but it then but there is a bunch of preinstalled apps
had a tendency to want to blur out the you might consider to be bloatware
background a step too far, which may (Facebook, WPS Office, Netflix, LinkedIn,
complicate its ease of use as a point eBay and AliExpress, for example) along
and shoot. with quick-download shortcuts to more
Colours are good though, and given online services and games.
some more time to get familiar with Mi On this Global ROM model all
10T Pro it should be capable of some Google apps are preinstalled, including
truly decent shots. Google Assistant and Google Pay,
There are loads of settings and although you also get Xiaomi’s own apps
modes to play around with, and two for many of the things for which you
particularly intriguing options are will probably continue to use Google
Long exposure mode and Clone services. Should you pick up a cheaper
mode. The latter lets you take a single Chinese model, you will need to install
shot (image or video) with the same Google apps yourself. By default you
person appearing in it multiple times in also get a Google Discover feed with
different positions. Both should appeal a swipe in from the left of the home
to appeal to amateurs who want to screen, but it’s easy enough to turn off if
shoot pro-level photography without you don’t find it useful.
learning the basics. MIUI is much more than just a bunch
of apps you don’t want and an unfamiliar
SOFTWARE (some might say disorganised) Settings
I am a big fan of MIUI, the custom user menu, however – and especially here in
interface Xiaomi applies to Android, so MIUI 12, which is the latest version of
it saddens me to see a continuation of the operating system.
the ads peppered about the place that New in MIUI 12 is a Control Centre,
we saw in the bargain-basement Redmi which is a spruced up version of the

44 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 making better use of
your dual SIMs and
the latter creating a
protected area for
certain apps and data.
As with all Xiaomi
phones, a Themes app
lets you customize the
user interface, and there
are literally hundreds to
choose from – and many
are free to download.
New in MIUI 12 is a Control Centre, which is a spruced up There’s also a
version of the quick settings panel system-wide Dark
mode, Game Turbo,
quick settings panel that you access Video Toolbox, Floating Window, Lite
when you pull down from the top of the Mode, Enterprise mode, Quick Ball,
screen. It takes a little getting used to, One-handed Mode, Full-screen Display,
pulling down from the top left to access App Lock and Clear Speaker. Most of
notifications, and top right to access these are self-explanatory; the latter
Control Centre, but once you’re familiar plays audio for 30 seconds to shake out
with it you’ll probably find it easier to dust from the speaker.
use with its larger icons and
more space meaning fewer
cramped up notifications that
you could easily miss.
There is no always-on
display feature on Mi 10T
Pro, but the other software
features we have come to
love in MIUI are all present
and correct.
Dual Apps and Second
Space stand out, the former The Themes app lets you customize the user interface.

ISSUE 81 • ANDROID ADVISOR 45

REVIEWS

Unlike many of the ‘bloatware’ apps, • Android 10 , MIUI 12

you can’t uninstall Xiaomi’s own apps, • Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865
but if you have no interest in the likes of (7nm+) processor
Themes, Security, Cleaner, BoostSpeed, • Octa-core (1x 2.84GHz Kryo 585, 3x
Mi Video, Mi Browser and so forth, it’s 2.42GHz Kryo 585, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo
quite easy to stick them out the way in 585) CPU
a folder. Alternatively, a relatively new • Adreno 650 GPU
addition to MIUI lets you add an app • 8GB RAM
drawer, which by default is switched off, • 128GB/256GB storage
so you don’t need to put anything you • Three rear-facing cameras: 108Mp, ,
don’t want on the home screen. f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/1.33in, 0.8µm,
PDAF, OIS; 13Mp, f/2.4, 123-degree
VERDICT (ultra-wide), 1.12µm; 5Mp, f/2.4,
This Chinese phone is now one of our (macro), AF
top recommendations in Xiaomi’s line, • Single selfie camera: 20Mp, f/2.2,
if not quite up there with Mi 10 and 27mm (wide), 1/3.4in, 0.8µm
Mi 10 Pro. We’d love to see an OLED • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band,
panel, wireless charging and some Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
refinements to the design, but these are • Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX
all sacrifices we are prepared to make for Adaptive
what appears to be a very strong overall • GPS with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS,
package that comes at a lower cost. BDS, GALILEO, QZSS
Xiaomi majors on value with Mi 10T • NFC
Pro, carefully balancing cost-cutting with • USB Type-C 2.0; USB On-The-Go
awe-inspiring. The powerful Snapdragon • Fingerprint scanner (side mounted)
865 processor, the 144Hz display, the • Non-removable 5,000mAh lithium-
108MP camera, the incredible battery polymer battery
power and the 5G connectivity: these • Fast charging 33 watts
are all specs that have no business in the • 165.1x76.4x9.3mm
mid-range. Marie Black • 218g

SPECIFICATIONS
• 6.67in (2,400x1080; 395ppi) IPS LCD,
144Hz, HDR10+ touchscreen

46 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 Credit: Getty Images/martin-dm
What is 5G?
Here’s what you need to know. JIM MARTIN reports

W
hile tentative plans and a to both download and upload speeds.
handful of phones were It should also have the ability to handle
announced last year, 2020 is more devices being connected at any
the year of 5G. Many new phones now one time, with an unprecedented level
support 5G, and it’s expected that all the of demand expected.
upcoming flagships will have an option Coverage will, unsurprisingly, start
for the latest technology. All four of the with major towns and cities. Networks
main networks in the UK now have a 5G are hoping that a full roll-out will be
service up and running. completed much more quickly than
The fifth generation of mobile 4G, but it may be limited to larger
Internet promises huge improvements settlements for the foreseeable future.

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5G

WHAT IS 5G? which means actual 5G speeds are

As with 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G before it, it’s between 200- and 400Mb/s – on average.
an umbrella term for the fifth-generation It’s possible you’ll get up to 800Mb/s or
of mobile networks. Within 5G there’s even more, and speeds should continue
lots of jargon, most of which you don’t improving as network infrastructure
need to know about or worry about – at grows, and phone modems improve.
least not until you need to buy a 5G
phone. At that point, you must ensure WHICH NETWORKS OFFER 5G?
it has the right specs to work with your Not every phone carrier in the UK will let
mobile operator. you access a 5G network, though more
5G is much faster than 4G. In are launching regularly. Here’s where you
technical lab tests, 4.5Gb/s (4,500 can get 5G right now.
megabits per second) and more has
been achieved, but in the real world you • EE
can expect between 10 and 20 times • Vodafone
better speed than 4G. That’s according • O2
to companies including Qualcomm, • Three
Huawei and Samsung. • Sky
In tests in real-world conditions (at • BT
London’s Canary Wharf, for example), it • Tesco Mobile
has been demonstrated that over 1Gb/s
is possible, which is a huge increase over It’s worth noting that different
the fastest 4G speeds. providers have 5G available in different
It means the Internet connection cities and towns within the UK, so before
on your phone is likely to overtake signing up for a contract it’s worth
your home broadband speed by quite checking if your area is covered by your
a margin. And that applies to upload network of choice. BT uses the same
speeds as well as downloads, so posting towers as EE, while Sky borrows O2’s
an 8K video you’ve just shot on your network, so coverage should be the
5G-capable phone to YouTube as same between those.
you walk along the high street is fast Finally, some of the networks charge
becoming a reality. extra fees for 5G phones and plans, while
Currently, 4G speeds are around some – like Vodafone and Three – won’t
10-15Mb/s on average for downloads, charge any extra for 5G.

48 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 Each provider also offers different of traffic, with other smart city tech no
phones, so you’ll have to balance the doubt to follow.
choice between your preferred handset As well as being faster than 4G, 5G
and network. will be a whole lot more responsive,
so you won’t have to wait those few
WHAT ARE THE OTHER seconds before your YouTube video
BENEFITS OF 5G? starts playing. The lower latency and
It was estimated that by 2020 mobile faster speeds should also mean you’ll be
traffic would have increased more able to have much higher quality video
than 30 fold since 2014. That’s partly calls, which are currently poor quality
because people want to stream video and often laggy when using 4G.
when they’re out and about, but also
because of the number smartphones HOW DOES 5G WORK?
has increased considerably. That’s a tricky question to answer, as it’s
And it’s about to get a whole lot a complex technology.
more crowded. We’re already seeing In essence, it mainly uses much
car manufacturers put embedded SIMs higher frequencies than 4G where there
in their vehicles, but when self-driving is plenty of ‘spectrum’ available. 4G
cars hit the roads they’ll all have a 5G works on frequencies between 2- and
connection. Before long so will all your 8GHz. 5G will use these frequencies – a
wearable tech, always-connected laptops type of 5G called Sub-6 – as well as the
and tablets, and eventually even your higher band between 24- and 100GHz.
smart home devices. These higher frequencies are being
Infrastructure such as traffic lights called ‘millimetre wave’. It refers to
could communicate via 5G to work the fact that, as frequency increases,
with cars to ensure the speediest flow wavelength decreases. These shorter

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5G

waves – just as with 802.11ac Wi-Fi the UK, US, across Europe, and in China,
compared with 802.11n – mean much South Korea, and more.
faster Internet speeds, but at the cost of
shorter working distances. CAN I ROAM WITH 5G?
The simplest way to understand it is In the UK and Europe, 5G is currently
with a pipe. Sub-6 is like a longer, thinner available in the sub-6GHz spectrum
pipe that offers slower speeds but over rather than mmWave – at least to
a longer distance. mmWave is like a very start with – while the US has both.
short, fat pipe which can deliver huge Most phones support both types of
speeds, but only at short distances. frequency, but the early days of the tech
The problem is that 5G ‘mmWave’ are still seeing some companies focus
signals can’t easily pass through walls on one or the other.
and will be affected by obstacles such That means that for the next year
as tree branches and even rain. What it or two you won’t necessarily be able
means in practice is that there will need to roam worldwide and access 5G
to be a lot more mobile transmitters connections, and it will vary extensively
located much closer to the ground to by your phone and network, though
create the necessary coverage. The there probably will be consistency
principle of more,
smaller transmitters
also means there
should be excellent
indoor 5G coverage
as well as outdoor.
Support for Sub-
Credit: Getty Images/jacoblund

6 and mmWave will

vary from country to
country. Currently,
the US is the only
country to adopt
mmWave, but it will
spread further in
2020. Meanwhile For the next year or two you won’t necessarily be able to roam
Sub-6 is available in worldwide and access 5G connection

50 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

across Europe at least. It’s worth pointing
out that you’ll still be able to access 4G
signals when you roam – any 5G phone
will be able to handle 4G and below too
– so you’ll still be able to make calls and
access the Internet, you just won’t get
the highest possible speeds.

WILL 5G BE IN RURAL AREAS?

5G is currently a good solution for
densely populated areas, but this kind
of technology is too expensive to cover
rural areas, so unfortunately your 5G
phone will simply use existing 4G signals
if you go out of 5G coverage.
Some experts say that 5G will fix the
currently awful mobile signal on railway
lines, offering ‘seamless’ connectivity,
so you should be able to binge watch
The Mandalorian on your commute to
and from work.
However, that will depend upon how
much rail operators – that’s Network
Rail in the UK – are willing to invest, as
upgrading to 5G isn’t cheap. So don’t
expect to see much improvement for
several years.

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5G

Credit: Getty Images/FG Trade

Best 5G phones 2020
As 5G begins to take hold in the UK, here are our pick of the best 5G
handsets currently available. ALEX WALKER-TODD reports

2
019 was the year that 5G phones BEFORE YOU BUY
started appearing on store Getting a 5G phone is only one piece
shelves. 2020 is the year that of the puzzle, of course. To actually take
the technology really took off; with advantage of this next-gen connectivity
the country’s major mobile carriers you need to:
now all supporting this new super-fast
network infrastructure and a wealth of • Have a 5G-capable phone
manufacturers now offering top-tier • Subscribe to a network that actively
phones with 5G modems onboard. offers 5G connectivity

52 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

• Subscribe to a contract that actively stream video in 4K resolution without
includes 5G connectivity buffering and make high-resolution
• Be in an area with good 5G coverage video calls if you so wish. There are also
benefits for mobile gaming, because of
EE and Vodafone were the first 5G’s lower latency.
networks to get their 5G networks up
and running, with O2 joining the fray in BEST OVERALL:
October 2019. Three’s 5G network was ONEPLUS 8 PRO
technically up and running in 2019 too Price: £799 from fave.co/2SnYKc1
but the carrier didn’t start offering 5G The OnePlus 8 Pro ushers in a bunch
phone plans until earlier this year. of firsts for the humble Android phone
There’s also the matter of the maker. It’s the first OnePlus display
nation’s MVNOs (mobile virtual network with a hole-punch camera and a 120Hz
operators) – carriers that effectively refresh rate. It’s the first OnePlus phone
piggyback off of other networks’ existing with wireless charging and a quad-
5G infrastructure. Right now, BT Mobile camera. It’s the first time OnePlus
(using EE’s 5G network), Sky Mobile has made Wi-Fi 6 and 5G standard.
(using O2’s 5G network), Tesco Mobile It’s even the first OnePlus phone with
(using O2’s 5G network) and Voxi (using IP-rated water resistance.
Vodafone’s 5G network) all also offer 5G The top-of-the-range 256GB model
plans/phones. (our review unit is the 128GB version)
Before you splash out on a 5G phone, is also the first OnePlus handset to
it’s worth checking to see what the cots almost £900. To be fair, things
quality of 5G coverage in your area is have changed a lot since 2014, when
like. Check out RootMetrics’ coverage Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 cost just
map for an independent evaluation of £549 off-contract. But even though
mobile coverage (including 5G coverage) OnePlus can claim the 8 Pro costs
from the UK’s major carriers, across the hundreds of pounds less than the
nation – see fave.co/3ldvnFT. closest apples-to-apples comparison
Galaxy phone, the price is still much
WHY UPGRADE TO 5G? more shocking on a OnePlus phone
5G is around 20 times faster than 4G, than a Samsung one.
with the potential for even better speeds While the 8 Pro is a fantastic phone
in future. With 5G, you’ll be able to that continues to shine a light on just

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5G

cam introduced on
the 7 Pro.
It’s probably
for the best that
OnePlus removed
the moving and
inherently breakable
parts, but I’d be
lying if I didn’t say
I missed it. The
pop-up selfie cam
might have been a
little gimmicky, but
The OnePlus 8 Pro Ultramarine Blue colour doesn’t reflect light it gave the 7 Pro a
like the 8’s Interstellar Glow, but it’s a beauty in its own right. unique feature that
set it apart from
how expensive premium Android phones other premium Android phones. The
have become, the light is less illuminative hole-punch camera gives it a sameness
this time around. By throwing out its own that makes it feel less special, amplified
playbook to give diehard fans everything by the fact that the bezels haven’t really
they wanted, the OnePlus 8 Pro has shrunk much either.
joined the ranks of the phones it was But while the overall look may be
supposed to undercut. a little on the safe side, the OnePlus 8
Pro is still a very nice phone. My chief
Design complaint is the rather bulbous camera
The design of the OnePlus 8 Pro bump, which is once again centred and
doesn’t deviate much from that of its vertical but noticeably thicker, making
predecessor, the 7 Pro. Its dimensions the OnePlus 8 Pro all but impossible to
are a touch bigger, and it’s a bit lighter use on a flat surface. It’s better with one
(199g versus 210g) and thinner (8.5mm of OnePlus’s bumper cases, but with such
versus 8.8mm). There’s one noticeable a beautiful, fingerprint-repelling frosted
deviation: the curved display now has a glass finish in Ultramarine Blue or Glacial
hole in the upper left corner for the selfie Green, you won’t want to cover it with a
cam, rather than the delightful pop-up slab of silicone.

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Display 30 more hertz of refresh, and three fewer
While there are plenty of ‘pro’ pixels per inch. Taken together, though,
components inside the OnePlus 8 all those small changes make a huge
Pro, none of them matter more than difference. The faster refresh rate is the
the display. OnePlus isn’t often at the most noticeable, with simply effortless
forefront of screen tech – its first OLED scrolling and super-smooth transitions.
screen didn’t arrive until late 2015, in fact But even when you’re not touching the
– but the Fluid Display on the 8 Pro is on screen, the brightness, refined motion
the absolute cutting edge of smartphone interpolation algorithms and HDR Boost
screen tech, belying the seemingly minor are noticeable. My only complaint is
spec-sheet improvements over the 7 Pro: with edge rejection, which is a constant
nuisance on a phone this size.
OnePlus 7 Pro: 6.67in 3,120x1,440, The brightness of the display helps
516ppi, 19.5:9, 90Hz refresh rate the optical fingerprint scanner. On the
OnePlus 8 Pro: 6.78in 3,168x1,440, whole, it’s speedier and more reliable
513ppi, 19.8:9, 120Hz refresh rate than the S20’s ultrasonic sensor, but
despite conscious effort from OnePlus
We’re talking about a tenth of an inch to improve the experience, it’s still very
more screen, a slightly taller aspect ratio, hit-and-miss. All things being equal,
I’d much rather have 3D
facial recognition such as
the Google Pixel 4’s Face
Unlock, even if that meant a
return to a notch.
Biometrics aside, the
OnePlus 8 Pro isn’t just the
best screen OnePlus has
made – it’s the first I’ve
used that rivals the latest
from Apple and Samsung.
The brightness, colour
gamut and colour accuracy
The matte frosted glass on the OnePlus 8 Pro (right) truly raise the bar. But I’m
looks even classier next to the glossy OnePlus 8. not sure anyone who would

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5G

consider a OnePlus phone necessarily for the 5G modem in the OnePlus 8 Pro
needs a screen this good. It’s not that won’t pay off for awhile.
OnePlus customers aren’t discerning, What’s more impressive about the 8
but when faced with a £899 price tag, Pro is the 4,500mAh battery. It’s a good
I wonder how many would-be buyers size, but it performs like it’s much bigger.
would just pick up a Galaxy or an iPhone Even with the 120Hz screen turned on, I
instead. Besides, the display on the £549 was able to make it through a full day of
OnePlus 7T is very good too. heavy use with juice to spare, rivalling the
performance of the 5,000mAh battery
Performance in the S20 Ultra. Benchmarks bore this
With the Snapdragon 865 processor and out, topping 10 hours in PCMark’s tests,
next-gen Wi-Fi onboard, the OnePlus 8 an impressive feat for a battery under
Pro is every bit the screamer you’d think 5,000mAh in an Android phone.
it is. I regularly topped 10,000 in PCMark The OnePlus 8 also introduces
Work 2.0 benchmarks, and my gigabit wireless charging for the first time. It’s a
home Internet with an Orbi Wi-Fi 6 welcome addition, even though third-
System delivered consistently fast speeds party charges are only supplying slow
better than 600Mb/s (versus 450Mb/s 5-watt charging. You’ll need to buy
on the OnePlus 7T). The S20 Ultra a separate Warp Charge 30 Wireless
benchmarked a little better overall, but Charger (priced £70) to get the full 30
the 8 Pro is insanely fast. I didn’t get a watts of power that the OnePlus 8 Pro
chance to test the 5G modem. We’re still is capable of, but most people should
years away from super-fast 5G being as probably skip it. Not only is it pricey, but
ubiquitous as 4G, so the extra expense the built-in fan is so loud that OnePlus

The camera bump on the OnePlus 8 Pro is quite large.

56 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 so tapping and
scrolling feel even
faster than they look.
However, OnePlus is
still only promising
bi-monthly Android
updates with the 8
Series, a schedule
that’s not going to cut
it for such as pricey
phone. To be fair,
updates could arrive
sooner than that, as
If not for the OnePlus logo on the back, you might mistake the OnePlus has a robust
8 Pro for a Samsung phone. beta programme
to make sure the
built a configurable bedtime mode that final release is free of bugs. But when
limits the charger to 10 watts, so it won’t Samsung and Google are pushing out
disturb your sleep. system updates near the beginning
Helping the speed and power of every month, OnePlus’s update
management is OnePlus’s delightfully schedule seems stuck in the past.
minimal Oxygen OS. The new parts
are relatively slight – most notably dark Photography
mode has been enhanced a bit, and Live With such a high price tag, the
Caption makes a welcome appearance – expectations for the OnePlus 8 Pro are
but as usual, OnePlus’s skin is less about high as well, and no other component
features than functionality. For example, will be more scrutinized than the camera.
the system can detect when you’re less On paper, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s camera is
likely to use the screen – when you’re top-notch, sporting four lenses including
playing a movie, for instance – and a novel colour filter camera and a new
effectively lower the refresh rate to Sony IMX689 image sensor with a
60Hz to preserve battery. Conversely, 1/1.43in sensor.
the touch sampling rate is bumped to In a general sense, the OnePlus 8
240Hz when you are using the screen, Pro takes great pictures, and anyone

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In pitch black, the Pixel 4 (right) was still able to pull the correct colours and some detail,
while the OnePlus 8 Pro, left, and OnePlus 8 (centre) struggled with white balance.

who uses one to snap a landscape or a year’s 7T Pro was bested by the iPhone
portrait in good-enough lighting will be 11 Pro and Galaxy Note 10+, the 8 Pro
happy with the results. However, it still isn’t quite at the level of its newest peers
feels like a generation or two behind when it comes to processing, particularly
the smartphone leaders. Just like last with night mode and action shots.

In dark lighting, the OnePlus 8 Pro (left) outdid the OnePlus 8 (centre), but the Pixel 4
does a better job with both exposure and clarity.

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When capturing motion, the OnePlus 8 pro (left) and OnePlus 8 (centre) both struggled,
while the Pixel 4 (right) was able to perfectly freeze the moment.

With solid hardware, the 8 Pro’s 4 handled the colour properly, however,
camera abilities could change with and captured far greater detail than
updates – and as such, a mid-review either OnePlus phone. That advantage
update did improve the speed of served the Pixel 4 in typical low-light
autofocus and quality of low-light shots conditions as well: Google’s processing
– but it’s unlikely that the 8 Pro will see a engine did a better job with sussing
significant leap. You can argue that the details and preserving the integrity of
issues I’ve outlined below are nitpicky, the scene.
but for the price, the OnePlus 8’s camera OnePlus’s inferior processing is
should stand up to those in other like- evident with action shots as well. While
priced handsets. OIS and Super Steady mode do well to
Take night mode. While OnePlus keep videos stable, the photo engine
has done a fine job with improving its struggles to capture clean motion even
phones’ low-light abilities over the years, in brilliant sunshine. In the photos below,
the OnePlus 8 Pro still doesn’t quite the 8 Pro (left) was able to lock in on my
measure up to Google’s stellar output. son’s face, but his feet and hands are
In the image above, both phones are blurry, and the badminton shuttlecock
able to pull out an impressive amount and racket are barely recognizable. The
of detail from pitch blackness. The Pixel Pixel 4, on the other hand, snapped

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You can have some fun with the filter camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro (from left,
Photocroma, Vivid, B&W), but ultimately it’s a useless gimmick.

the whole scene as if everything were Verdict

perfectly still. There’s no denying that the OnePlus
OnePlus’s most unique camera 8 Pro is a great phone. It can hold its
feature is its fourth lens, which introduces own against any other Android flagship
a colour filter lens for snapping when it comes to performance, and in an
Instagram-worthy shots at the source. apples-to-apples comparison, you won’t
In a world where filters are a dime a find a better price for a phone with these
dozen, it’s a little gimmicky, especially specs. That said, the £799 starting price
considering there are only four options to isn’t the same bang-for-your-buck deal
choose from, and the 5Mp image quality that the £649 7 Pro was, especially when
is quite low compared to that of the you consider that it’s limited to just one
main lens. Granted, these are smallish colour, green. If you want the OnePlus
problems, but for the price, good 8 Pro in black or blue you’ll need to
enough isn’t good enough anymore. swing for the £899 model with 256GB
If OnePlus is going to compete in this of storage and 12GB of RAM. That’s still
space, it’s going to need a camera that less than the £999 S20+ or the £1,199
challenges the Pixel and iPhone in the S20 Ultra, but the value isn’t nearly
areas where they excel. The 8 Pro just as apparent as it once was. OnePlus
isn’t on their photography level yet. had an opportunity to expose how

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excessively expensive high-end Android • GPS with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS,
phones have gotten. All it has proved BDS, GALILEO, SBAS
with the 8 Pro is that building a cutting- • NFC
edge 5G phone in 2020 is expensive. • Fingerprint scanner (under display)
Michael Simon • USB 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible
connector, USB On-The-Go
Specifications • Non-removable 4,501mAh lithium-
• 6.78in (3,168x1,440; 513ppi) Fluid polymer battery
AMOLED capacitive touchscreen • Fast charging 30 watts
• Android 10.0; OxygenOS 10.0 • 165.3x74.4x8.5mm
• Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 • 199g
(7nm+) processor
• Octa-core (1x 2.84GHz Kryo 585, 3x MOST COMPACT:
2.42GHz Kryo 585, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo GOOGLE PIXEL 5
585) CPU Price: £599 from fave.co/2SYhfnc
• Adreno 650 GPU Hot on the heels of the Pixel 4a, Google
• 8GB/12GB RAM has expanded its 2020 mobile portfolio
• 128GB/256GB storage yet further to now include the Pixel 4a
• Four rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, 5G and the long-rumoured Pixel 5.
f/1.8, 25mm (wide), 1/1.43in, 1.12µm, On the surface, the Pixel 5 serves
omnidirectional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; to right the wrongs made by last
8Mp, f/2.4, (telephoto),
1/1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x
optical zoom; 48Mp, f/2.2,
14mm, 116-degree (ultra-
wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8µm,
PDAF; 5Mp, f/2.4, (depth)
• Selfie camera: 16Mp, f/2.5,
(wide), 1/3in, 1.0µm
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6,
dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct,
DLNA, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, The Pixel 5 serves to right the wrongs made by last
aptX HD year’s erroneous Pixel 4.

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year’s erroneous Pixel

4; namely by dropping
the experimental Motion
Sense gesture tech, trading
its secondary telephoto
camera in for an ultra-wide
sensor and almost doubling
battery capacity so that
the phone actually lasts
beyond a few hours at a
time. While these changes
may seem obvious, the The Pixel 5 sees the welcome return of a centrally-
Pixel 5 – and where it sits positioned rear fingerprint sensor.
in the wider smartphone
landscape – is indicative of a shift in portability, weight, ease-of-use and
Google’s smartphone strategy and points comfort in the hand.
to a very different future to the one that The Pixel 5, with its 6in display,
older Pixel phones were designed for. definitely cements its place on our Best
Small Phones list (see fave.co/2SWdNcO)
Design because of its diminutive footprint,
The most striking thing about the Pixel paired with a comfortable hand feel
5 isn’t its camera tech or how well the that’s wholly unique to this device.
Google Assistant is integrated into its It has a beautifully balanced design,
software experience, it’s its design and being the only phone with what appears
that’s thanks to two main factors: its size to be equally-sized bezels along all four
and its finish. edges of the screen (most usually have
It’s fair to say that there just haven’t a thicker bottom bezel).
really been any good small Android The move away for the Motion Sense
phones in recent years, with a few radar array of last year’s Pixels, plus the
exceptions that barely scrape by. Most use of an in-display hole-punch front
manufacturers have pushed for bigger camera (a trend Google first adopted
displays in order to show off their with the Pixel 4a), is why the bezels of
multimedia capabilities but in most the Pixel 5 are so much thinner; and
cases, that’s been at the expense of then there’s the rounding.

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 It’s a small detail, but both the gives the impression of a continuous
body and the display of the Pixel unibody and the overall effect is wholly
have rounded corners that share convincing; with the Pixel 5 presenting
proportionally complimentary radii; itself as a clean, well-built device.
something you might overlook on paper, There’s a light surface texture that
but in reality taps into that part of your offers a touch less grip than a glossy
(are at least my) subconscious that’s back would and picks up small abrasions
appeased by the visually congruent. disappointingly easily but it is, at least,
It brings a pleasing balance to the brilliant at repelling fingerprints and
look of the Pixel 5 that’s also supported feels nice in the hand.
by its relatively thin 8mm waistline, This year, potential buyers only
rounded sides and impressively low have two colour options to choose
weight (just 151g). between: Just Black or Sorta Sage – a
There’s also the finish, you won’t muted pale green that serves as a
readily find metal-bodied smartphones notable contrast to last year’s Clearly
nowadays, with glass or plastic being the White and Oh So Orange colourways.
preferred material of choice, especially Google says this year’s choice of just
when it comes a phone’s back panel. two finishes comes as a direct result of
The Pixel 5 is an enigma in supply chain limitations in the face of
this regard, as, along with signal the global pandemic.
performance, wireless charging is one The colour-accented power button
key reason you don’t want to use a has also been replaced with a chromed
metal back and yet the Google has clad button (along with a chromed ‘G’ logo
the 5’s internals in recycled aluminium, on the lower half of the phone’s back)
while also retaining support for which Google says helps differentiate
wireless charging. How has it achieved the more premium Pixel 5 from the Pixel
this feat? Simple, it cut a hole in it. 4a (5G) that it was announced alongside
It’s very hard to perceive, but in (which features a white power key).
the right light you can actually see The finishing touches that round out
the shield-shaped cut-out Google has the Pixel 5’s design are its pleasingly
sliced out of the phone’s aluminium small camera bump, the return of a
frame to allow the wireless charging coil centrally-positioned rear fingerprint
to function. The Pixel 5 is covered in sensor – which is undoubtedly more
what it describes as a “bio-resin” which responsive and convenient than the Pixel

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5G

a result, so it’s
best left on
Maximum
brightness could
be a touch higher
but generally-
speaking, there’s
little that detracts
from the visual
experience;
with pleasing
colours, contrast
There’s little that detracts from the visual experience on the Pixel 5. and viewing
angles at play.
4’s face unlock or in-display fingerprint You have the option to change
sensors (both optical and ultrasonic) – between Natural and Boosted colour
and IP68 dust and water resistance. profiles or opt for Adaptive mode, which
is enabled by default (I never felt the
Display need to change it), while Night Light will
A taller, slimmer 19.5:9 aspect ratio warm up the screen colour temperature
means the Pixel 5 offers a larger 6in in the evenings to help reduce eye strain.
display compared to last year’s Pixel As for the Pixel 5’s audio chops,
4, without becoming that much wider a headphone jack doesn’t feature
in-hand. Google hasn’t pushed the and there’s no in-box 3.5mm adapter
boat out with the panel on this year’s or USB headphones, so you’re left
Pixel, but it’s still a pleasingly crisp and either forking out extra for Bluetooth
clear HDR10+-compliant, 90Hz, Full headphone or sourcing your own
HD+, OLED offering. USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (Google,
That adaptive higher refresh rate no doubt, hopes that you choose to
is enabled by default and although pick up a pair of its latest Pixel Buds
technically consumes more battery life [£179] or its own-brand adapter [£12]).
than locking the phone down to 60Hz, If that is an important consideration for
gives you a far more responsive and you, the Pixel 4a (5G) does feature a
premium-feeling user experience as headphone jack.

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 With no visible earpiece, it was functionality (the latter now lets you edit
assumed that the Pixel 5 would audio recordings and auto-transcriptions
host an under-display speaker, and by highlighting each one to affect the
sure enough, it works well in calls other – it’s pretty impressive in practice).
but doesn’t bring much to the table Hold For Me – the Google Duplex-
when serving as a loud-speaker. powered automated call holding feature
It handles the higher frequencies – sounds promisingly helpful on paper
while a downward-facing secondary but isn’t available at launch and if you’re
speaker does most of the heavy lifting outside the US, won’t be coming to your
regarding the mids and bass tones. Pixel phone for the foreseeable, which is
That said, despite the promise of a real shame.
stereo sound and the frequency split It’s really the small tweaks the elevate
across both speakers, the overall sound the software experience on the Pixel 5;
profile lacks punch or clarity, especially the ability to both screenshot or grab
the louder you push it. on-screen information in a context-aware
format with a simple swipe up, support
Software for Live Captions (introduced last year)
There was never any doubt about the and the improved wallpaper and home
software experience that the Pixel 5 screen customization tools.
would be running out-
the-box. Android 11 is
the latest and greatest
of Google’s mobile OS’s
and as ever, this newest
Pixel serves to show it
off at its best.
This mainly takes
the form of iterative
improvements across a
number of established
features, with apps
like Google Duo and
Google’s Recorder
getting some additional Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 5 comes with Android 11.

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5G

None of this is
groundbreaking stuff but
Google has managed to both
add and improve features
without leaving the resultant
software experience feeling
bloated. That’s before you
fold in the promise of three
years of both security and OS
updates, as well as a handful
of camera and battery-related
additions that we’ll come to in The Pixel 5’s primary 12.2Mp sensor is accompanied
a moment. by a 16Mp ultra-wide sensor.

Photography by the Pixel 4 series and even the Pixel

The Pixel line has grown to represent the 3 series before that; it’s a decidedly
power of computational photography on ageing component that’s remained
smartphones and as the years have gone in high regard, only because of what
on, that fact has only solidified further. Google’s engineers have been able
The Pixel 5’s primary 12.2Mp (Sony to achieve on the software and image
IMX363) sensor is the same unit used processing side.

Google has
replaced
the Pixel 4’s
telephoto for
a new ultra-
wide lens.

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 The Pixel
5’s video
stabilization
options.

This year, it’s accompanied by a Pixel 4). And all this while Google
16Mp ultra-wide sensor, which sports a has seemingly dropped the use of a
107-degree field-of-view; not as wide dedicated chip, like its predecessors’
as its competitors (the iPhone 12’s Pixel Visual Core and Pixel Neural Core.
ultra-wide sensor sports a 120-degree In side-by-side testing, the Pixel
FoV, for example) but still a great way 5 was able to capture and process
to gain a new perspective on a subject Portrait shots as quickly as, or faster
or fit more in-frame without having to than last year’s Pixel 4, so it looks as
move position. though Google’s confidence in this
The biggest upgrade isn’t so much move seems valid.
the decision to swap out the Pixel As for picture quality, you’re getting
4’s telephoto for this new ultra-wide a very similar result to last year’s Pixels.
(despite that being one of the biggest Crop in and you’ll see some variation in
criticisms of the camera set-up on sharpness, dynamic range and colour
last year’s Pixels) but that Google has science – with the Pixel 5’s images being
expanded standout features like Night sharper, dynamically wider and a fraction
Sight to work across all of the Pixel 5’s cooler in those three regards – but the
various sensors, automatically. different decisions the camera is making
There’s also the addition of virtual over last year’s Pixel are both subtle and
portrait lighting, a multitude of new more a matter of personal preference,
specialized video stabilization options rather than an empirical improvement.
and the ability to top out at 4K 60fps Video quality does seem improved,
recording (up from 4K 30fps on the namely thanks to the option of that

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5G

Here’s a
shot of a
rainbow
taken
using the
defaults
settings.

This is
the same
subject,
but taken
with the
ultra-wide
lens.

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 This photo
was taken
when the
light was
extremely
low.

Here’s
the same
scene, but
shot using
the Pixel 5’s
Night Sight
mode.

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5G

Virtual portrait
lighting is well
implemented
on the Pixel 5.

higher frame rate, as well as different on the motion the phone is trying to
stabilization for different use cases. It’s counteract. Cinematic Pan is the most
definitely worth familiarizing yourself with creative but also the most specialized
these modes ahead of time though, as – trimming out audio and slowing
they all treat footage differently and most footage down to half speed while
importantly, crop in on the frame to a helping you capture a super-smooth
different degree; depending on what horizontal pan while shooting handheld.
type of content the phone thinks you’re You can also disable image
going to capture. stabilization (although there’s no real
Standard stabilization is on by need) although it’s clear that this only
default and seems wholly capable if really kills the EIS (electronic image
you’re simply walking down the street stabilization), while the main camera’s
or panning around from a fixed spot. OIS (optical image stabilization)
Locked is great for a zoomed, tripod- remains on.
style fixed position shot, while hand- HDR processing has also been
held, although the crop is quite heavy improved and the feature-set expanded
(starting at 2x). upon, along with a richer post-capture
Active is the Pixel’s attempt at GoPro- editing suite, but the other stand-out
style stabilization and while useful, still feature is virtual portrait lighting, which
lets in noticeable judder depending lets you add a virtual light against your

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subject’s face that you can drag around Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
on-screen, change intensity or have the Pixel 5: 1,625
phone automatically place and adjust. Pixel 4a 5G: 1,631
While the feature isn’t new to Pixel 4a: 1,640
smartphones in general, the Pixel 5 has Pixel 4: 2,270
one of the most impressively reliable OnePlus Nord: 1,963
and easy-to-use implementations of OnePlus 8T: 3,133
such functionality.
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Performance Pixel 5: 20fps
The Pixel line has always been about Pixel 4a 5G: 20fps
a software and user experience that Pixel 4a: 27fps
outshine – and aren’t explicitly limited Pixel 4: 48fps
by – the hardware that supports them. OnePlus Nord: 34fps
This is most evident in the phone OnePlus 8T: 61fps
line’s camera technology, but with the
Pixel 5 it’s also true of the processor Battery test
running the show. Pixel 5: 12 hours 34 minutes
Google has always stuck Qualcomm’s OnePlus Nord: 11 hours 26 minutes
flagship chip into its mainline Pixel OnePlus 8T: 9 hours 17 minutes
phones, but near the end of said
chip’s time in the spotlight. This was Fast charge in 30 minutes
originally because a successor was Pixel 5: 45%
always scheduled to be announced by Pixel 4a: 51%
Qualcomm only a month or so later, or in Pixel 4: 48%
more recent years, because Qualcomm OnePlus Nord: 68%
started to push out superior mid-life
cycle revisions, such as in the case of Admittedly, the Snapdragon 765G
the Snapdragon 855+ and 865+. that powers the Pixel 5 is the best that
This year, Google is taking a the 700 series has to offer and holds an
different tack altogether, dropping advantage over the current 800 series
from Qualcomm’s flagship-tier when it comes to one of the phone’s
Snapdragon 800 series down to key selling points – 5G. The 765G has
its 700 series chips instead. an integrated 5G modem, while the

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865 still relies on a standalone unit. This benchmarks don’t reflect the real-world
means greater power efficiency, but the performance that the phone clearly
765G has also proven to be a superb delivers and tests from other Android
processor in its own right, regardless of 11-based phones also show notably
its standing in Qualcomm’s portfolio. lower scores than Android 10-toting
It’s the same chip found in top-notch devices powered by similar hardware.
phones like the Nokia 8.3 5G, Vivo X50 As such, we’ve concluded that either
Pro and OnePlus Nord. the benchmarking apps or Android 11
In real-world use, the Pixel 5 handles require better optimization. The original
as you’d expect any flagship phone to point still stands, however, the Pixel 5
and paired with the lightweight Android delivers superb real-world performance
11 software and 8GB of RAM (the most and is as well-suit to gaming as it is
of any Pixel so far), makes for one of multi-tasking or photography.
the cleanest and most responsive user
experiences on the market, right now. Battery
Oddly, it benchmarks relatively poorly The Pixel 4 was a promising Android
to comparable devices, so poorly in fact phone undone by some of the worst
something seems amiss. The numbers battery life in recent memory. It was
produced by our performance-focused an issue fundamentally caused by the

Extreme
Battery Saver
is useful in a
pinch.

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small 2,800mAh cell that the phone all Google really needed to hit. It’s no
used and it was at the top of our wish battery champ, though.
list of improvements that the Pixel 5 Android 11 on the Pixel 5 does also
needed to make. introduce the Extreme Battery Saver
Thankfully, Google looks to have feature (coming to older Pixel devices in
listened and while the bump in battery future), which if enabled locks down app
capacity isn’t transformative, it turns the access to the phone’s base functions,
Pixel 5 into a phone that you’d be happy save for any apps you white list.
to live with, rather than one that you’d Google proudly promises up to 48
be scared to use for fear of it dying the hours of use using this mode, but that’s
moment the screen lights up. something other phones are capable
Despite its small proportions and of during normal use, so wouldn’t be
relatively thin frame, the Pixel 5 features the first thing we shout about when
a far larger 4,080mAh cell, compared to recommending the Pixel 5.
its predecessor. Like before, it supports
fast charging (still 18-watt PD charging) Verdict
and up to 12-watt wireless charging. The Google Pixel 5 sheds some of the
Reverse wireless charging is now part of series’ more experimental features to
the Pixel recipe too. deliver a more focused smartphone
In battery benchmark
tests, the Pixel 5 delivers
promising numbers,
lasting 12.5 hours under
artificial conditions.
In real-world use, the
phone proves to be far
more pedestrian, with
a somewhat unexciting
4.5 to 5 hours of screen-
on time per charge.
However, this works out
to a day’s use without
worry and with the bar
as low as it was, that’s The Pixel 5 is the most balanced Android phone you can get.

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5G

experience that exemplifies some of the • Adreno 620 GPU

best qualities of Android as a platform. • 8GB RAM
The hardware isn’t competitive to • 128GB storage
the same degree as offerings from the • Two rear-facing cameras: 12.2Mp,
likes of Oppo, OnePlus or Realme, but f/1.7, 27mm (wide), 1/2.55in, 1.4µm,
that doesn’t stop the Pixel 5 from being dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 16Mp, f/2.2,
greater than the sum of its parts. 107-degree (ultra-wide), 1.0µm
This device is a reliable all-rounder, • Single selfie camera: 8Mp, f/2.0, 24mm
a great long-term purchase – both in (wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12µm
terms of software support and based on • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band,
the fact that 5G infrastructure continues Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
to improve – a superb small Android • Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
phone and an outstanding camera • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO,
phone to boot. Google has finally QZSS, BDS
realized that the Pixel can’t compete • NFC
with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink • USB Type-C 3.1
approach of some top-tier smartphones, • Fingerprint scanner (rear mounted)
but also that it doesn’t have to. The Pixel • Non-removable 4,080mAh lithium-
5 is perhaps the most balanced Android polymer battery
smartphone on the market and if you • Fast charge 18 watts
related to any of the use cases I just • 144.7x70.4x8mm
mentioned, then this is definitely worth • 151g
considering, even if rivals offer more for
less. Alex Walker-Todd BEST CAMERA:
OPPO FIND X2 PRO
Specifications Price: £1,099 from fave.co/2ANcsj1
• 6in (2,340x1,080; 432ppi) OLED, 90Hz, The Find X2 Pro is nothing more than
HDR10+ touchscreen a statement of intent from Oppo. With
• Android 11 Galaxy S20 Ultra-rivalling specs – and a
• Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G price tag to match – this is a company
(7nm) processor saying: we don’t just make good phones.
• Octa-core (1x 2.4GHz Kryo 475 Prime, Or great phones. We make the best
1x 2.2GHz Kryo 475 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz phones. And honestly? It’s not far off.
Kryo 475 Silver) CPU Spec for spec there aren’t many phones

74 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

out there that can match
it, while the design feels
premium – if a little
pedestrian by Oppo’s
usual standards, orange
leather aside.
This is undoubtedly
one of the best Android
phones on the market,
so the only question that
really remains is whether
anyone in the UK and
Europe is really willing to
spend as much as they
would on a Samsung Our review Find X2 Pro is the orange vegan leather option.
or Apple flagship for a
phone from a Chinese brand they may review unit is the much more exciting
never have heard of before. orange vegan leather option. This isn’t
the first phone to use a pleather finish,
Design but we wish more would: it adds a
The Find X2 Pro looks great. But it also welcome grippiness to the rear, avoids
looks like most other 2020 flagship the risk of smashing, and looks a little
phones, so don’t expect anything wild different to everything else out there.
like the company’s early forays into pop- The vegan leather model does run a
up cameras and the like. little thicker, but lighter, and at 9.5mm
You get a big 6.7in curved display and 200g it definitely feels chunky,
with a pin-hole selfie camera in the top though not unmanageably so. It also
left, and on the rear the cameras are laid comes with a small Oppo logo in a
out in a vertical strip, also in the corner. gold-coloured metal tag on the back,
The phone has an IP68 rating, so should a mildly blingy touch I’d rather the
be safe from both water and dust. company had left out.
The main thing that is notable is Orange pleather aside, the Find
the finish. You can buy the phone in X2 Pro essentially looks good but
a standard dark grey ceramic, but our forgettable. There’s nothing really to

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5G

criticise here, but not a lot to make it Ultra Vision Engine’ chips in to boost
stand out in a competitive crowd. And it both frame rate and colour gamut on
should go without saying, but if you’re compatible video content, though even
not a fan of big phones you should without its help most things will look
absolutely look elsewhere. great on this phone just by virtue of the
display itself. It’s curved on the sides, but
Display fortunately not to the extreme extent
Speaking of size, we’ve naturally got of more recent ‘waterfall’ displays from
the 6.7in display to blame for that. But the likes of Vivo or Huawei. It still feels
honestly? We can forgive it when the comfortable to use, with impressive
display is this damn good. palm-rejection, so you can enjoy the look
The AMOLED screen has a resolution of the curved panel without sacrificing
of 1,440x3,168 and supports HDR-10, usability along the way.
displays over a billion colours, and runs
at a blistering 120Hz refresh rate – the Photography
same as Samsung’s Galaxy S20 series. If Oppo has gone all out on the Find
Earlier this year I declared the Galaxy X2 Pro’s display, it’s just as committed
S20’s display to be the best you could to the camera. On the back you’ll find a
buy, but already it’s been supplanted by triple camera set-up: a 48Mp f/1.7 main
Oppo’s That’s not least because unlike camera with a custom IMX689 Sony
the S20 it will let you run the phone sensor that’s capable of taking shots
with both max resolution and the 120Hz with 12-bit colour – more than can even
refresh rate simultaneously, making this be fully displayed on the screen.
both the crispest and smoothest screen It’s joined by a second 48Mp lens,
around at the same time. using the older IMX586 sensor and
The hit to battery life luckily isn’t f/2.2, which serves as a wide angle.
too bad, but if you’re worried you can Then you get a 13Mp f/3.0 periscope
also set each to an auto option, which lens that delivers roughly 5x optical
will dynamically adjust refresh rate and zoom and up to 10x hybrid, capping out
resolution to suit the current content, at 30x zoom overall.
ensuring it only uses up the extra battery Photos from the main sensor are
when you’ll actually see a benefit. bright and vivid, with excellent colour
The screen is bright, with vivid colour depth and dynamic range, but without
and fantastic dynamic range. Oppo’s ‘01 the over-saturation that plagues many

76 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

From the top left, these images were taken using the 2x, 5x, 10x and 30x zoom.

rival Android devices. Essentially if common megapixel counts. Still, the

you want crisp, detailed shots that feel extra detail is welcome for landscapes,
true-to-life rather than over-stylized, and should pay off in macro shots too.
the Find X2 Pro will be one of the best Finally, that zoom lens. This isn’t
options around. Oppo’s first foray into extreme zoom
The wide angle delivers solid results, – the Reno 10x Zoom got there last
but between the aperture and the year – but it remains one of the best
different sensor it’s clear that this is still around. Capping digital zoom at 30x
not on a par with the main sensor for is a smart way to avoid the distraction
detail and vibrancy – so don’t expect those very lossy images provide, and
similar results just because of the instead makes it easier to focus on how

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5G

Here’s
a photo
taken
using the
standard
lens…

…and
here’s
another of
the same
scene using
the wide-
angle lens.

78 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 Here’s an
example of
a low light
shot.

This was
taken using
the phone’s
Night
Mode.

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5G

The photo on the left is a portrait shot, while the one on the right is a selfie.

great the camera performs at up to 10x. but I don’t think that will matter to most
Yes, images lack the phenomenal colour people – and even on phones that do
range that the main camera can deliver, support 8K, it’s really not good enough
but the detail captured here remains yet to miss it much here. Otherwise
really remarkable, and at least on a par there’s the usual features, including
with what Samsung delivered in the image stabilization, and the now fairly
S20 Ultra. I still don’t know how often common option for portrait mode video.
most people will use periscope lenses
like this, but if you want to the Oppo Performance
undeniably delivers. Just about every other spec on the Find
There’s the usual night mode and X2 Pro is predictably top-tier. You get
portrait options. The former is a solid the flagship Snapdragon 865 processor
effort, though I did find that it tended to along with 12GB of DDR5 RAM and
overblow light sources, and especially 512GB of ultra fast storage.
struggled with realistic night skies. It’s The result is blisteringly fast
good, but far from the best. Portrait performance across basically anything
mode is also hit-and-miss – the edge you’d hope to use it for, including
detection is pretty spot on, but you lose the fastest multi-core processing
a lot in dynamic range, especially from performance we’ve seen on any Android
the 32Mp f/2.4 selfie lens. phone yet – though the Exynos-
As for video, the big downside is that equipped Galaxy S20 phones do beat it
there’s no 8K recording support here, at simpler single-core tasks.

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Geekbench 5 (multi-core)) Battery
Oppo Find X2 Pro: 3,295 Power and charging are two of Oppo’s
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 2,646 standout strengths, and the Find X2 Pro
Google Pixel 4 XL: 2,435 doesn’t disappoint here. Even with both
OnePlus 7T Pro: 2,732 120Hz refresh rate and QHD resolution
Huawei P40: 3,140 the 4,260mAh battery comfortably made
it to the end of the day, every day, and
GFXBench Manhattan if you turn those down (or just switch to
Oppo Find X2 Pro: 58fps the more efficient auto settings) this will
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 59fps last even longer, though won’t quite be a
Google Pixel 4 XL: 45fps two-day device.
OnePlus 7T Pro: 54fps Charging is even more impressive.
Huawei P40: 60fps This is the first phone Oppo has released
in the West with its 65-watt wired fast
GFXBench T-Rex charging, which actually involves splitting
Oppo Find X2 Pro: 60fps the battery into two cells so that it can be
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 86fps charged fast enough.
Google Pixel 4 XL: 74fps Oppo claims that the phone will reach
OnePlus 7T Pro: 60fps a full charge in 35 minutes – and since I
Huawei P40: 60fps got it to 97 per cent in our standard 30
minutes charging test (from empty, with
Battery life the phone off) I’m inclined to believe it.
Oppo Find X2 Pro: 8 hours, 44 minutes Setting numbers aside, this is a
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 8 hours, 2 game-changer in terms of fast-charging –
minutes you can now genuinely plug your phone
Google Pixel 4 XL: 11 hours, 4 minutes in for ten minutes and get most of a
OnePlus 7T Pro: 9 hours, 17 minutes day’s charge back in return, completely
Huawei P40: 11 hours removing the need to worry about
plugging it in overnight or stressing
Beyond the core internals, you get about lugging battery packs around
the likes of stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6, with you. The only downside? There’s
5G, NFC, and an optical in-display no wireless charging at all, as Oppo says
fingerprint sensor that’s one of the most it couldn’t include Qi support without
reliable I’ve used yet. compromising on those wired speeds.

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Software
Finally, software. If you
haven’t tried it, Oppo’s
ColorOS is one of the
better Android skins
out there, and the best
by far from the Chinese
big three: Oppo,
Xiaomi, and Huawei.
There’s a fairly clean,
angular design to the
icons and OS settings,
but more importantly
there’s a huge amount
of customisability here.
For example, you can Oppo’s ColorOS is one of the better Android skins out there.
set not only the home
screen style and number of app icons, options and eye care modes, along
but the icon style can also be tweaked with a schedulable dark mode – still
to a really granular level, right down to not guaranteed on Android devices, so
whether the corners are rounded or how welcome here.
much of the icon box each app logo
takes up. Verdict
If there’s a fault it’s that there’s so The Oppo Find X2 Pro is a phenomenal
much control that some of the settings phone by any measure. It packs the best
menus become a confusion of sliders, display you’ll find in any phone right now
toggles and settings, enough so that and backs it up with the fastest wired
even Android experts might find the charging around and a top-tier camera.
array of options daunting. That’s mostly You’ll have to live without wireless
forgiveable on this phone at least, which charging, and the choice between bland
is pretty much targeting power users grey or garish orange leather might
anyway. Beyond that this is mostly a leave some shoppers struggling to find
pretty typical Android 10 set-up, with a design that suits their style. For pure
the usual array of digital well-being performance though, the Find X2 Pro

82 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

can’t be beat right now – you’ll just polymer battery
have to be willing to pay the price for it. • 165.2x74.4x8.8mm
Dominic Preston • 217g

Specifications BEST FOR EASE OF USE:

• 6.7in (3,168x1,440; 513ppi) AMOLED SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 FE
capacitive touchscreen Price: £599 from fave.co/31c9KOa
• Android 10, ColorOS 7.1 Unlike Apple’s iPhone SE branding,
• Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 Samsung had no qualms in explaining
(7nm+)processor the logic behind the FE branding. The
• Octa-core (1x 2.84GHz Kryo 585 & 3x Fan Edition of the flagship Samsung
2.42GHz Kryo 585, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo Galaxy S20 looks to offer the favourite
585) CPU high-end features at a more palatable
• Adreno 650 GPU price tag, and with a Snapdragon 865
• 12GB RAM included as standard, it could be the only
• 256GB/512GB storage Samsung smartphone in the 2020 roster
• Three rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, that UK fans are truly interested in.
f/1.7, 25mm (wide), 1/1.43in, 1.12µm,
omnidirectional PDAF, Laser AF, Design
OIS; 13Mp, f/3.0, 129mm (periscope The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has the
telephoto), 1/3.4in, 1.0µm, 5x optical same design ideology as the rest of
zoom, PDAF, OIS; 48Mp, f/2.2, 17mm the S20 range – complete with rear-
(ultra wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8µm, AF facing rectangular camera block and
• Selfie camera: 32Mp, f/2.4, (wide), centrally-placed hole-punch front-facing
1/2.8in, 0.8µm camera – but there are plenty of small
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/6 Wi-Fi dual-band differences in design that make the S20
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE FE stand out on its own.
• GPS with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, The most noticeable is that unlike
BDS, GALILEO its siblings, the Galaxy S20 FE doesn’t
• NFC have a curved display. It’s completely
• USB 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible flat, and that does mean it’s not quite
connector, USB On-The-Go as comfortable in the hand as curved
• Fingerprint scanner (under the display) alternatives, but Samsung has tried
• Non-removable 4,260mAh lithium- to make up for it by offering more of

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a curved rear than the standard S20. I a whopping £1,199, so Samsung

admittedly had no complaints about certainly doesn’t see an issue with its
comfort when using the S20 FE, even plastic replacement. Regardless of
one-handed, but it’ll very much be a how Samsung feels, it makes cheaper
personal thing. alternatives with a glass rear – like the
Another noticeable change is the Nokia 8.3 5G – feel nicer in the hand
shift from glass to ‘Glasstic’, Samsung’s than the S20 FE.
proprietary plastic that’s designed to The only upside is that the rear will
look and feel like glass, on the rear. probably be more durable than glass – it
Whatever Samsung might promise, it certainly won’t shatter when dropped
certainly doesn’t feel like a high-end – and when combined with IP68 water
glass rear, although the matte finish resistance, the S20 FE is robust.
does mean it’s less of a fingerprint Smartphone colours have taken an
magnet than its siblings. interesting turn in recent years, with
You might be surprised that Samsung manufacturers leaning to the colourful
opted for a plastic rear on a premium look, and that is certainly true of the
smartphone, but you shouldn’t be – it’s Galaxy S20 FE. In fact, with Cloud
also present on the Samsung Galaxy Lavender, Cloud Orange, Cloud Red,
Note S20 Ultra, a phone that costs Cloud Mint, Cloud White and Cloud
Navy options
available, there are
more colour options
to choose from than
any other in the S20
family. It certainly
makes for a more
eye-catching device,
that’s for sure.
Elsewhere, there’s
a volume rocker
and power button
on the right and a
The Galaxy S20 FE’s chassis is made from ‘Glasstic’, Samsung’s USB-C port at the
proprietary plastic that’s designed to look and feel like glass. bottom, but there

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 but general use – until
palm rejection tech is
improved, anyway.
The main highlight of
the Galaxy S20 display
was the 120Hz refresh
rate, and being the Fan
Edition, it was only right
for the S20 FE to feature
the same high refresh
rate. In fact, the buttery
smooth display of the
The Samsung’s OLED panel is gorgeous, detailed and bright S20 FE is improved in
enough to be used on even the sunniest of days. some areas, with a 240Hz
touch sampling rate
isn’t a headphone jack. That’s not a total to improve touch response time when
surprise considering it isn’t present on gaming – a feature not even present on
the rest of the Galaxy S20 range, but the recent flagship Galaxy Note20.
Samsung’s cheaper smartphones do still It is lower resolution than the main
ship with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so it S20 range, capping out at FHD+ rather
would’ve been nice to see. It is the Fan than WQHD+, but as you couldn’t opt
Edition, after all, and plenty of fans still for a high refresh rate and high resolution
use wired headphones. on the flagship, it doesn’t seem like
much of a downgrade. It’s more than
Display likely that most S20 owners took the hit
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE sports a to resolution to enable the high refresh
6.5in display, placing it between the 6.2in rate, providing a more immediately
S20 and 6.7in S20 Plus in Samsung’s noticeable effect than a pixel-packed
collection. That’s the best of both display, so the high resolution likely
worlds to me, with the 20:9 aspect ratio won’t be missed by most.
providing a tall display that’s easy to use Like the rest of the collection,
one-handed. The display is flat, which the Galaxy S20 FE sports an OLED
may be disappointing to some, but it’s display, complete with a small hole-
something I prefer not only for gaming punch camera at the top. Crucially, that

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S20, in the UK at least,

was the inclusion of
Samsung’s Exynos
990 over Qualcomm’s
Snapdragon 865.
There are complaints
from S20 owners that
the Exynos version
is slower than the
Snapdragon variant,
and there’s a knock-
on effect on overall
The optical fingerprint scanner requires light to work properly. battery life too, so it’s
great to see Samsung
OLED panel is gorgeous, detailed and finally offering a Snapdragon-enabled
bright enough to be used on even the variant of the Galaxy S20 FE with 5G
sunniest of days. connectivity in the UK.
You’ll also find an in-display It is worth noting, however, that the
fingerprint scanner that works in a slightly 4G version of the Galaxy S20 FE features
different way to the usual in-display the Snapdragon Exynos 990, so there
scanners that Samsung uses. It’s optical is still a chance you’ll end up with an
and not ultrasonic, requiring light to arguably inferior model if you aren’t
work properly, which essentially means paying extra for 5G connectivity.
you’ll see a bright light around your Regardless of the processor you get,
finger when you unlock your phone. It’s the Galaxy S20 FE is paired 6GB of RAM
not a big deal to most as it’s used by and 128GB of storage, expandable via
many Android competitors, and it’s still the built-in microSD card slot.
lightning fast and accurate, but it may be As you’d expect from a Snapdragon
something that existing Samsung owners 865-powered smartphone, the Galaxy
have to get used to. S20 FE offers flagship performance
regardless of what you’re up to – be
Performance it playing Call of Duty Mobile with the
One of the biggest complaints when it highest graphical settings or scrolling
came to the flagship Samsung Galaxy through media-heavy apps like Twitter

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and Instagram. It’s helped by the high The Galaxy S20 FE lasted a whopping
refresh rate, of course, making everything 12 hours and 35 minutes during our
feel smoother and more responsive Geekbench 4 battery test, and that
than competing 60Hz smartphones, and mirrors real-world use; it’s enough to get
there’s not a hint of stutter or lag either. me through a day packed full of texting,
That’s backed up by our benchmark tweeting and gaming, but there’s not
results, putting the Samsung Galaxy S20 enough power in the tank to last a full
FE on a par with the standard Galaxy S20 second day. 5G connectivity and the
and OnePlus 8T. It’s worth noting that 120Hz refresh rate do take their toll
I’ve been looking at the Snapdragon 865 eventually, after all.
variant of the S20 FE, so performance That said, the Galaxy S20 FE does
may vary with the Exynos model. offer support for 25-watt fast charging,
although it only ships with a 15-watt
Geekbench 5 (multi-core) charging brick, so you’ll have to splash
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE: 2,934 out to take full advantage of the fast
Samsung Galaxy S20: 2,299 charge capabilities on offer. Still, with the
OnePlus 8T: 3,133 bundled charger, the S20 FE regained 38
Huawei P40: 3,140 per cent of charge in 30 minutes and full
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: 3,388 charge in little under 90 minutes in tests,
which should minimise the amount of
GFX Manhattan 3.1 time you spend tethered to the wall.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE: 59fps There’s also 15-watt wireless charging,
Samsung Galaxy S20: 50fps and like the rest of Samsung’s flagship
OnePlus 8T: 61fps range, there’s 4.5-watt reverse wireless
Huawei P40: 58fps charging on offer too.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: 50fps
Photography
That impressive performance extends You’ll find three cameras embedded
to battery life, with the 4,500mAh within the rectangular camera block on
battery performing noticeably better the rear of the Samsung Galaxy S20
than its Exynos-enabled counterparts FE. It’s comprised of a main 12Mp f/1.8
in our benchmark tests – likely down to sensor along with 12Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide
the improved power efficiency of the and 8Mp f/2.4 telephoto snappers.
Qualcomm chipset. That might seem a little underwhelming

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compared to the rest of the S20 at a allowing you to squeeze in a little more
glance, particularly in the telephoto of a vista or more friends in a group shot.
department, but generally speaking, the Importantly, unlike some competitors,
trio of cameras perform well. there’s no noticeable drop in quality or
Of course, it’s the main sensor that real shift in colour temperature between
gets the most TLC in most smartphones, the ultra-wide and wide lenses. Images
so let’s start there. are just as vibrant and detailed as those
The main 12Mp sensor is larger than from the main sensor, although it’s not
that of the other S20 FE cameras, so it quite as capable in low-light situations.
captures more light with more accurate Lastly, there’s the 3x telephoto lens,
colours, and that’s evident in the quality allowing you to get closer to your subject
of images taken. In ideal conditions, without physically moving. The good
the S20 FE captured bright, detailed, news is that images captured by the
colourful snaps enhanced further by telephoto lens are decent in terms of
Samsung’s AI scene optimization, detail, but unlike the ultra-wide, there’s a
a feature that adjusts images shift in colour temperature compared to
depending on what it thinks you’re the main lens. It might not be noticeable
taking a photo of. in everyday use, but putting photos
It’s quick to capture images, although side-by-side, you’ll be able to tell.
like most smartphone cameras, there’s a The telephoto lens also offers up
slight chance it’ll come out blurry if you to 30x digital zoom, but images taken
move mid-take. But, if the S20 FE notices at that level are barely usable – taking
this, it’ll give you a little heads-up within a photo of the moon on a clear night
the Camera app – a handy feature not looked closer to a headlight than a
present on most Android smartphones. celestial body.
The idea of the 12Mp ultra-wide is Along with the different lenses,
to squeeze as much of a scene in as there are a variety of shooting modes
possible, with Samsung’s option offering available including Samsung’s popular
the ability to capture double the amount One Take mode, allowing you to take
of the scene compared to the main lens a 10- to 15-second video and generate
with a 0.5x zoom. That’s on a par with a variety of photos, video clips and
the iPhone 11, and it’s an improvement edits based on what the phone thinks is
on the 0.6x zoom on many competing important, along with Night Mode, Pro
Androids with an ultra-wide lens, mode and more.

88 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 An image
taken using
the main
lens.

Here’s
the same
scene, but
shot using
the ultra-
wide lens.

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Here are a
couple of
examples
of photos
taken
using the
telephoto
lens.

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 On the front, you’ll find a 32Mp in Android 10 including a system-wide
snapper that performs much like the dark mode, Digital Wellbeing tools and
selfie camera of the iPhone 11: it’s a even Facebook Messenger-esque Chat
single camera offering both an ultra-wide bubbles from the likes of WhatsApp and
and wide shooting mode. That’s done other chat apps – if you want them.
simply by cropping in the full-frame Like the rest of the Samsung
image to give you a tighter look, and portfolio, the S20 FE features Samsung’s
although it’s not as good as having a true OneUI baked on top of stock Android.
dual-camera set-up on the front, images As with most custom UIs, there are visual
are more than enough for the likes of changes on offer, and OneUI provides
Instagram and Snapchat. deep customization in terms of widgets,
In terms of video, you can record themes and fonts to radically change
at up to 4K at 60fps on both the front- the look of the interface if you desire.
and rear-facing cameras. However, OneUI can take a bit of getting used
features like moving autofocus only to initially, but once you’ve powered
work when shooting at 1080 at 30fps, through the short learning curve, the
and it’s a similar case when shooting in Galaxy S20 FE is a joy to interact with.
aspect ratios other than 16:9, so there
are limitations to the video offerings of Verdict
the S20 FE. Being the Fan Edition, The S20 FE had
a lot of expectations to live up to, and
Software for the most part, Samsung has achieved
Like the rest of the Galaxy S20 range, what it set out to do – provide the core
the S20 FE comes with Android 10 out Galaxy S20 experience in a cheaper
of the box, although you’ll be able to package. You’ve got the same super-
get an upgrade to Android 11 when it’s smooth 120Hz AMOLED display, albeit
pushed out to Samsung smartphones – with a lower resolution, and it still has
likely near the end of 2020. What’s better a high-end look despite switching out
is that prior to the announcement of the the rear glass for Samsung’s ‘Glasstic’
S20 FE, Samsung committed to three glass-effect plastic.
years of Android upgrades, potentially The biggest plus for UK fans is the
providing access to Android 12 and 13 inclusion of the Snapdragon 865 over
on the 20 FE. the Exynos 990, with Qualcomm’s
You’ll get access to key new features option offering improved performance

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and power efficiency compared to • 128GB/256GB storage

Samsung’s own chipset. • Three rear-facing cameras: 12Mp,
There’s a trio of surprisingly capable f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76in, 1.8µm,
rear-facing cameras that work well, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; 8Mp, f/2.4,
capturing bright, detailed images, 76mm (telephoto), 1/4.5in, 1.0µm,
although photos taken on the telephoto PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; 12Mp,
lens do look a little more washed out f/2.2, 123-degree, 13mm (ultra-wide),
than the vibrant colourful shots taken by 1/3.0in, 1.12µm
the main wide and ultra-wide lenses. • Single selfie camera: 32Mp, f/2.2,
Battery life is decent too, with no 26mm (wide), 1/2.74in, 0.8µm
issues getting through an average • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band,
day with 5G and the 120Hz refresh Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
rate enabled, and there’s 25-watt • Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
fast charging supported to keep you • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS,
untethered – although it ships with a less GALILEO
powerful 15-watt charging brick. • NFC
Essentially, Samsung has distilled • USB Type-C 3.2, USB On-The-Go
the essence of what made the Samsung • Fingerprint scanner (under display,
Galaxy S20 such a popular option and optical)
put it on sale at a discounted price. The • Non-removable 4,500mAh lithium-
Glasstic rear is a little disappointing, but polymer battery
it’s something most people will get over • Fast charge 25 watts
eventually. Lewis Painter • 159.8x74.5x8.4mm
• 190g
Specifications
• 6.5in (2,400x1,080; 407ppi) Super BEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY:
AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+ touchscreen SAMSUNG GALAXY
• Android 10, One UI 2.5 NOTE20 ULTRA 5G
• Exynos 990 (7nm+)processor Price: £1,179 (inc VAT) from
• Octa-core (2x 2.73GHz Mongoose fave.co/34uV3Il
M5, 2x 2.5GHz Cortex-A76, 4x 2GHz Our Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra
Cortex-A55) CPU review found three clear reasons to
• Mali-G77 MP11 GPU make the jump to this new flagship
• 6GB/8GB RAM phone: Mystic Bronze, laser autofocus

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and the S Pen’s new
8ms latency. And if
you’re looking for any
reasons not to, well,
there are plenty of
those in this review
too – namely, it’s
gigantic, expensive
and not a huge
upgrade over the S20
Ultra.
But if you’re a
Note fan, you know
exactly what you’re The 6.9in screen on the Galaxy Note20 Ultra definitely needs
getting and you two hands to operate.
know you want it:
the biggest, fastest
and most powerful
Android phone
you can buy. For
everyone else, it’s
not so simple.
Samsung’s
flagships have
become so good
that reviews of them
are all basically the
same: yes they have
the best specs, but
they’re also the most Sorry, Bixby lovers, the dedicated button is gone for good.
expensive (although
the Note20 Ultra actually costs £20 carrier offers, you’re still going to be
less than the S20 Ultra). The maths is paying more for this phone than for any
brutally clear: Even with trade-ins and other Note that came before it. There’s

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no doubt that you’re getting a lot for in photos, and it’s every bit as obtrusive
your money with the Note20 Ultra. But as it looks. The Note20 Ultra’s impressive
Samsung has raised the bar so high, the thinness actually works against it here,
best might not be worth the price of making the bump feel much thicker by
admission anymore. comparison. The size also means it’s
tough to use when resting on a table.
Design I even encountered some issues with
There’s no nice way to say it: the Note20 charging pads. A case would help, but
Ultra is the most unwieldy phone I’ve you wouldn’t want to use one.
ever used. Granted, it’s about 15g lighter Why? Because the Note20 Ultra
than the S20 Ultra, three-quarters of a is flat-out gorgeous. Samsung’s new
millimetre thinner and only a couple of colours are dubbed ‘Mystic’, and they
millimetres wider, but that phone was give the Note a refinement and dignity
already at the upper limit of what my that contrasts with the pop-culture vibe
hands and pockets could handle. The one gets from the S20 Ultra’s bright,
extra width on the Note20 Ultra, along iridescent ‘Cosmic’ colourways.
with its very boxy shape, makes it feel The Note20 Ultra has a luscious matte
uncomfortable to handle and carry. finish that’s nicer than what I’ve seen
The unwieldiness is due in no small on any Galaxy phone I’ve ever used. It
part to the camera bump. You’ve seen it doesn’t need to grow on you like the
iPhone 11 Pro’s Midnight
Green or wait for the
right light like the Note
10’s Aura Glow. It repels
fingerprints like it was
made of plastic, and it
has a better grip than the
glossy S20 does. The new
bronze colour’s matching,
stainless-steel sides add
a touch of sophistication,
accentuated by the slivers
The bezels aren’t completely gone on the Note20 Ultra, but of colour that peek out
they’re not very visible. above and below the

94 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

 1,500 nits using adaptive
brightness), but all you’ll
notice are the vibrant colours
and deep blacks.
The Galaxy Note20
Ultra has the same 120Hz
display that Samsung
introduced with the S20, so
unfortunately, you still need
to drop the resolution to Full
HD to use the 120Hz setting,
but it’s a small sacrifice. Once
you try it out, you won’t
The Note20 Ultra’s matte finish is a massive want to go back, but here
improvement over the glossy S20 Ultra. it has an adaptive refresh
rate to conserve battery
display. You’d be nuts to get any other life. So if you’re reading an article, the
colour and even more nuts to put a case rate will drop to 60Hz, but if you’re
on it, even a clear one. playing a game or watching a movie, it’ll
The front of the phone is equally increase to 120Hz. It’s a great battery-
fabulous. The bezels around the saving feature and one that looks to
enormous 6.9in screen are about as thin be exclusive to the Note. Samsung has
as they can get without disappearing announced the One UI 2.5 features that
completely. The curved edges contrast are coming to the S20 and the adaptive
nicely with the flat top and bottom. refresh isn’t one of them.
Because it’s a Samsung flagship, it
goes without saying that the display Performance
is big, bright and breathtaking. But The Note20 Ultra might not be a true
I’ll say it anyway. Samsung somehow ‘gamer’ phone like the Asus ROG Phone
manages top itself with each new 3 or the Lenovo Legion Duel, but it packs
flagship. If you go deep enough in the just as much of a punch. The Snapdragon
comparison with the S20 Ultra, you’ll 865+ combined with 12GB of LPDDR5
see a more consistent white balance and RAM produced the best scores I’ve ever
a higher max brightness (a whopping seen on an Android phone:

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Geekbench 5 unexpected benefit of Epic’s recent

Single: 966 war with Google and Apple. Because
Multi: 3,067 Samsung runs its own App Store and
Compute: 3,652 doesn’t have terms as strict as Apple’s
for developers, the new Epic Store with
PCMark discounted V-Bucks is available at a tap.
Work 2.0: 12,298 My son reports that while the on-screen
controls were a little confusing at first,
So you’re getting a phone that’ll run gameplay on the Note20 Ultra is ‘OP’
everything at tip-top speed, including (that means good), and he was able to
Microsoft’s new xCloud Xbox gaming snipe some sweats.
service. I’m no gamer (my Candy Crush The Snapdragon 865+ chip gets
obsession notwithstanding), and my a little hot, however. In Fortnite and
Minecraft Dungeons-loving son was too other graphically intensive apps, the
young to try out the preview with his back of the phone became noticeably
account, but Xbox fans will surely be warm to the touch, often topping 100
happy with the performance. degrees Fahrenheit during the heaviest
You’ll also be able to download loads (per an infrared thermometer).
Fortnite without side-loading, an It might become an issue on hot days.
That’s probably
why the Asus
ROG Phone
3 and Lenovo
Legion Duel
have specialized
cooling systems.
Also worth
noting it that the
Note20 Ultra’s
4,500mAh
battery is a little
on the skimpy
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra (top) is only about three-quarters of a side is. While
millimetre thinner than the S20 Ultra, but the difference is noticeable. that’s bigger

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 the main reason why
the iPhone 12 probably
won’t include a
ProMotion display – it
kills battery life.
When you need to
charge it, you’ll get
25-watt fast charging,
but not the 45-watt
charging on the Note
10+ and Galaxy S20
Ultra. It won’t make a
huge difference – the
The bezels are thin, the camera is centred, and the screen is Note20 Ultra will still
gorgeous on the Note20 Ultra. fill up in less than 90
minutes using the
than what you’ll find on most phones, 25-watt charger – but it’s strange that
it’s smaller than the 5,000mAh battery Samsung removed support after just
in the S20 Ultra. But don’t worry: your a year. The camera bump also caused
Note20 Ultra is still going to make some issues with charging pads. More
it through the day, even with heavy than once my phone didn’t charge
users who want to keep 120Hz motion because the camera lifted the phone up
smoothness turned on. enough where the coils weren’t touching.
Note20 Ultra users will have to
settle for second-best when it comes S Pen
to battery life, however. In benchmarks, Because this is a Galaxy Note phone,
I got better than 12 hours with 120Hz it has an S Pen on board, though it’s
turned off, but only around nine hours not like the styli of Note past. For one,
with it on. My real-world experiences it’s been moved to the left side of the
were similar: even with the new adaptive device after living its whole past life
refresh rate, the Note’s battery drained on the right side. The placement isn’t
significantly faster when motion the only thing that’s new. Samsung has
smoothing was on, which is just going accelerated the S Pen’s latency from
to be a fact of life until it evolves. It’s 45ms to 8ms, which has a dramatic effect

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Samsung turned its

stylus into a Bluetooth
remote with the
Note 9 and added
app gestures last
year. Now the Note
has even more ‘air
actions’ that let you
control all aspects of
the phone with back,
recents, home, and
screenshot gestures. I
could somewhat see
You’ll want to take more notes with your Note20 Ultra’s S Pen. the appeal of using
the S Pen as a remote
on writing and drawing. I never had an for the Camera or Gallery, but the use
issue with the old pen’s performance, case for the new air actions is extremely
but the new S Pen feels as natural as limited.
writing on an actual piece of paper. And that’s if you can get them to
That latency is the same as the Apple work. While I was able to complete the
Pencil’s, and it makes a huge difference handy tutorial that forces you practice
when taking notes, marking up
documents or just scribbling
on the screen. It’s even better
with the higher refresh rate.
Samsung’s Notes app has
been upgraded as well, with
better handwriting support
and annotated audio. I suspect
you’ll be using your Note to
take notes more often than
with previous Notes.
The rest of the S Pen’s tricks
aren’t nearly as impressive. The camera bump on the Note20 Ultra is very bumpy.

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each of the new
gestures, getting
them to work while
using the phone
wasn’t so simple. I
often triggered the
wrong gesture or
none at all.
I struggled to
find a reason to use
them. Even when I
was using the S Pen,
it was just as easy to
tap the phone than
wave my hand to The Note20 Ultra is impressively thin at 8.1mm, but the camera
go back a screen or bump adds some girth.
switch apps.
The new S Pen is joined by a new good thing. The 100X Space Zoom that
version of One UI (2.5) that brings was plastered across the camera array
minor camera and interface tweaks, as on the S20 Ultra has been lowered to
Samsung continues to refine one of the 50X, and the DepthVision lens has been
best Android skins this side of the Pixel. replaced by laser autofocus.
Samsung has specifically designed One Both changes serve the Note20
UI to be friendlier to giant phones. The Ultra well. While the 108Mp lens is still
menus, navigation, and layout all make largely unnecessary – I couldn’t tell the
the Note20 a little easier to handle. You’ll difference between 108Mp pictures and
still need two hands, but One UI is a 12Mp ‘binned’ images – the Note20
pleasure to use. Ultra is definitely Samsung’s best
smartphone camera. It’s no coincidence
Photography that it’s also the least gimmicky,
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra has a camera eschewing features like Dual Exposure
system rivalling that of any smartphone on the Note 9 for the things that matter:
out there, but it’s not quite as improved night mode, lightning-fast
extravagant as the S20 Ultra’s. That’s a focus and realistic zoom.

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is its biggest advantage

over Google and Apple
(for now). Even with
fewer megapixels in its
telephoto lens (12Mp vs
48Mp on the S20 Ultra),
the Note20 Ultra takes
better zoom shots.
The other big
improvement is with
autofocus. Focusing was
an issue with the S20
Ultra that has never been
satisfactorily resolved.
For the new generation,
Samsung added a laser
autofocus sensor to the
Note20 Ultra. It makes
a huge difference over
the S20 Ultra and is a far
more useful fourth lens
than a macro or depth
one. I’ve never used
a phone that focused
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra has impressive zoom, seen here this quickly without
(clockwise from top left) at 1X, 10X, 30X and 50X. needing to tap the
screen, and it helps all
The zoom has its limits. When pushed aspects of the Note.
to 50X, the Note20 Ultra still produces However, at times it works a little too
noisy shots. Drop to 30X and they’re well. When the foreground is similar to
usable, but 10X yields the best results. If I what’s behind it, the Note20 occasionally
were in change of the Note 30’s camera, locked onto the wrong part of the
in fact, I’d make 30X the upper limit and picture. Other cameras were smarter.
work on perfecting it. Samsung’s zoom When it got it right, photos often had

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The Note20 Ultra’s laser zoom is so fast and precise, the centre of subjects are often too
in focus, leaving blurry edges.

an aggressive bokeh effect even without the Note20 Ultra on firm footing with
using Live Focus. In the photo of the the night mode champ. Hands down,
flower above, for example, the back the Galaxy Note20 Ultra is Samsung’s
petals are out of focus. The same shot best camera phone. You’ll still get a
with the Pixel 4a has
everything in focus.
Night mode also
improves on the
Note20 Ultra, pulling it
close to equal footing
with the iPhone 11
and Pixel 4. Shadows
and lowlights aren’t
blown out as they
are on other Galaxy
phones. Pictures have
less noise than on the
S20 Ultra. It’s a great Even without a dedicated time-of-flight sensor, the Note20
improvement and puts Ultra (left) takes portraits that are as crisp as the S20 Ultra’s.

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whether you’re far away

or shrouded in darkness.

Verdict
Nothing I write here is
going to convince you
about a Note20 Ultra
either way. If you have
£1,179 to spend on a
phone and want the
very best of Android,
you’ve probably already
decided to order one.
And if you’re a Note
lover, it’s likely already
on the way. For everyone
else, however, it’s a tough
sell. It’s undeniably the
best phone you can buy,
but it’s also probably
more screen and power
than most people need.
No matter how you
slice it, £1,179 is a lot
The Note20 Ultra (left) takes sharper, more balanced, and of money to pay for
less over-exposed photos in Night mode compared to the a phone, even one as
S20 Ultra. (It was very dark when I took these shots.) beautiful as the Note20
Ultra. Michael Simon
healthy serving of Samsung’s trademark
oversaturation, and the app is still a bit Specifications
more confusing than it should be. But • 6.9in (3,088x1,440; 496ppi) Dynamic
more often than not, you’re going to AMOLED 2X capacitive touchscreen
take your phone out of your pocket and • Android 10, One UI 2.5
snap a great picture with very little fuss, • Exynos 990 (7nm+) processor

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• Octa-core (2x 2.73GHz
Mongoose M5, 2x
2.5GHz Cortex-A76, 4x
2GHz Cortex-A55) CPU
• Mali-G77 MP11 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB/512GB storage
• Three rear-facing
cameras: 108Mp, f/1.8,
26mm (wide), 1/1.33in,
0.8µm, PDAF, Laser
AF, OIS; 12Mp, f/3.0,
120mm (periscope OnePlus’s Nord is a great value phone.
telephoto), 1.0µm,
PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom, 50x hybrid BEST AFFORDABLE:
zoom; 12Mp, f/2.2, 120-degree, 13mm ONEPLUS NORD
(ultra-wide), 1/2.55in, 1.4µm Price: £379 (inc VAT) from fave.
• Selfie camera: 10Mp, f/2.2, 26mm co/2DNYVZJ
(wide), 1/3.2in, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel OnePlus made its name undercutting
PDAF flagship phones, but over time the
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/6 Wi-Fi dual-band brand slowly became exactly what it had
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX originally set its stall against. I loved the
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, OnePlus 8 Pro, but – like many others –
GALILEO noted that it is a flagship through and
• NFC through, with the price to match.
• USB 3.2, Type-C 1.0 reversible Enter the OnePlus Nord. Much has
connector, USB On-The-Go been made of the company’s return
• Fingerprint scanner (under display, to the mid-range market – even Apple
ultrasonic) couldn’t generate this much hype
• Non-removable 4,500mAh lithium- around an affordable phone when it
polymer battery launched the iPhone SE – and it’s fair to
• Fast charge 25 watts say that expectations were high.
• 164.8x77.2x8.1mm So has OnePlus done it again? Well
• 208g let’s put it this way: I moved from the

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5G

OnePlus 8 Pro to the Nord

for this review, and even
though that phone costs
more than twice as much,
I’m in no rush to go back.
The notorious flagship
killer has killed again.

Design
The best thing I can say
about the design of the
Nord is that absolutely The rear camera module has moved to the corner, but
everybody I’ve shown it to otherwise things look much like the company’s flagships.
has been shocked when I
tell them it costs just £379. button, volume rocker and the always-
The Nord looks and feels just like welcome notification toggle, still rare
any other OnePlus phone – which is on Android phones.
saying something, given that OnePlus’s OnePlus has essentially made two
flagships are among the best designed concessions to price here. The first is
out there. It runs a little smaller, but not the frame, which is plastic rather than
by much – I actually wish they’d shrunk it the metal of the flagships. I’ll be honest,
down further, but OnePlus doesn’t really I didn’t even notice this until it was
make small phones. pointed out to me, and if I hadn’t just
Available in two finishes – Blue told you I suspect you wouldn’t have
Marble and Grey Onyx – the Nord looks noticed either. It may have some impact
different to the flagships, but no less on the phone’s durability of course, but
polished. There’s a shinier finish, rather the Gorilla Glass 5 finish on the rear and
than the matte frosted glass of its big screen should help somewhat.
brothers, but that makes it look different The bigger change is the move to
– not worse. Expect fingerprints though. a flat display. This is really a matter of
The rear camera module has moved taste, and I know plenty of people who
to the corner, but otherwise things look prefer a flat screen to a curved one, so
much like the company’s flagships. it’s hard to chalk this up as much of a
You get the same controls: power downgrade either.

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 There’s also no official waterproof and AMOLED to boot. To be blunt, this
rating for the phone, but OnePlus does is a better screen than some flagships
claim that it will survive being submerged are shipping with – I’m looking at you,
for up to 30 seconds in 30cm of water, LG Velvet – and is quite possibly the best
which is longer than I ever intend to keep you’ll find anywhere near this price.
it underwater. I’ll admit I haven’t dared Yes, you can get a 120Hz refresh rate
test that claim myself, though. screen for less in the Realme X50 5G,
Finally, as per usual there’s no but it won’t be AMOLED. Few people
headphone jack. There’s also only mono will notice or appreciate the jump from
sound through the speakers, but that’s 90Hz to 120Hz, but the colour depth,
par for the course at this price. brightness and accuracy of AMOLED
is immediately apparent. OnePlus has
Display made the right compromises here.
Let’s talk about that display. At 6.44in
it’s a touch smaller than the OnePlus 8, Performance
but it’s roughly comparable. That means Speaking of making the right
it’s still a pretty sizable screen, though compromises, the biggest downgrade
the 20:9 aspect ratio and slim bezels the Nord gets is in its chipset – and it
keep it usable. really doesn’t matter at all.
The core specs are hard to complain The Nord uses Qualcomm’s
about: FHD+ (2,400x1,080) with a pixel Snapdragon 765G chip, which brings
density of 408ppi, a 90Hz refresh rate with it the same 5G support you’ll find
on flagships – though no Wi-Fi
6, sadly. OnePlus pairs it with
either 8GB of RAM and 128GB
of storage, or a souped-up
model with 12GB RAM and
256GB storage – the one I’ve
been testing.
Yes, there’s a performance
gap between the 765G
and the flagship 865, and it
looks stark in benchmarking
This is a better screen than some flagships offer. comparisons to the OnePlus 8.

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But unless you’re playing the absolute GFX Aztec Vulkan Normal
most demanding mobile games around, OnePlus Nord: 21fps
you simply will not notice while you’re OnePlus 8: 45fps
actually using the phone. Oppo Find X2 Lite: 21fps
The Nord is just as fast, responsive, Motorola Edge: 19fps
and reliable as any phone you can buy Realme X3 SuperZoom: 31fps
right now for day-to-day usage and will Google Pixel 3a: 9fps
outpace many at this price. Huawei Nova 5T: 13fps

Geekbench 5 (multi-core) GFX Aztec Vulkan High

OnePlus Nord: 1,963 OnePlus Nord: 13fps
OnePlus 8: 3,400 OnePlus 8: 30fps
Oppo Find X2 Lite: 1,845 Oppo Find X2 Lite: 13fps
Motorola Edge: 1,813 Motorola Edge: 12fps
Realme X3 SuperZoom: 2,617 Realme X3 SuperZoom: 323fps
Huawei Nova 5T: 2,422 Google Pixel 3a: 6fps
Huawei Nova 5T: 9fps
GFX Aztec Open Normal
OnePlus Nord: 22fps OnePlus Nord battery
OnePlus 8: 48fps charge in 30 minutes
Oppo Find X2 Lite: 21fps OnePlus Nord: 68%
Motorola Edge: 20fps OnePlus 8: 57%
Realme X3 SuperZoom: 40fps Oppo Find X2 Lite: 68%
Google Pixel 3a: 11fps Motorola Edge: 38%
Huawei Nova 5T: 17fps Realme X3 SuperZoom: 68%
Google Pixel 3a: 47%
GFX Aztec Open High Huawei Nova 5T: 54%
OnePlus Nord: 13fps
OnePlus 8: 31fps Photography
Oppo Find X2 Lite: 13fps If there’s one area where the Nord’s
Motorola Edge: 12fps budget limitations show through, it’s in
Realme X3 SuperZoom: 26fps the camera. Not because it’s bad, but
Google Pixel 3a: 7fps because it’s a decidedly mixed bag.
Huawei Nova 5T: 18fps First up, the main lens is a 48Mp, f/1.75

106 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

shooter using the popular Sony IMX586 once you factor in the price, this
sensor – the same sensor OnePlus has camera is a clear winner.
used in phones since the 7 Pro, though As for video, it’ll handle 4K footage
this year’s 8 Pro upgraded to the more at 30fps – disappointingly not at 60fps,
impressive IMX689. though the selfie camera will – with OIS
This main lens is where the Nord and EIS to keep things steady.
shines. OnePlus has had the benefit of Things get a little murkier once you
the best part of two years optimizing move to other lenses and shooting
its software for this specific sensor, and modes however. The 8Mp, f/2.25 wide-
the results speak for themselves. This angle inevitably loses some detail, but
won’t quite match a Pixel – or even the more than that the colour balance and
similarly priced iPhone SE – for sheer contrast are off. Shots expose darker
point-and-shoot performance, but it’s than through the main lens, with extra
pretty darn close. shadow eating up that detail even
Colours are bright and accurate, more. The results aren’t bad, but they
exposure is even, and there’s both aren’t great either. Those two lenses are
detail in contrast in spades. Especially bolstered by a depth sensor to help with

A shot
taken
using the
OnePlus
Nord’s
main lens.

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5G

Here’s
the same
subject, but
shot using
the wide-
angle lens.

Another
photo, this
time using
the 2x
zoom.

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 Here’s
an image
taken using
the phone’s
Nightscape
mode.

This selfie
was taken
using the
default
settings…

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5G

…this was
taken with
the wide-
angle lens
…

… and
here is a
portrait
selfie.

110 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

portrait shots, and a 2Mp macro camera Finally, the front. In an unexpected
that is clearly only here to make up twist you get two selfie cameras here,
the numbers. Like most low-megapixel a trend that I thought had died out. In
macro cameras, this is absolutely addition to a 32Mp main lens you get an
terrible, with low detail, awful exposure 8Mp ultra-wide for group shots – both
and desaturated colour. There is no f/2.45. Unsurprisingly, the main shooter
conceivable circumstance in which you’d wins on detail and exposes for highlights
ever want to use this camera, but the a little better, but I’m actually impressed
good news is that you don’t have to: with the results out of both lenses – this
take a shot with the main lens, crop in is a great camera for selfie shots.
and you can get a fantastic close-up
shot that way. Battery
Low light photos are decent, Battery life and charging speed have
but nothing to write home about – I long been among the stronger elements
suspect the 765G is slightly showing of OnePlus phones, and the Nord is no
its limitations here. Still, my test shots exception. The 4,115mAh easily lasts a
were taken in near total darkness and day’s use with room to spare, though it
the phone still managed to pick out won’t quite make it all the way through
colours spectacularly well, even if fine the next one.
details are missing. Real low light shots That’s alright though, as the Warp
outside at night or in dim bars should Charge 30T fast charging was enough to
come out much better. top the battery up by 68 per cent in half
an hour in my testing
– which is enough
to last the day, when
push comes to shove.
There’s no wireless
charging, but at this
price the iPhone SE
is pretty much the
only phone out there
that does include the
feature, so that’s no
This is a great camera for selfie shots. real surprise.

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OnePlus’s own
counterparts. It’s
a small touch that
avoids duplication
and gives
users access to
features like RCS
messaging.
There’s one
final area where
the Nord beats
Oxygen is the best Android skin around right now. most of its
Android rivals:
Software updates. OnePlus is promising two years
The Nord ships with Android 10, and of software updates and a third year of
runs the same Oxygen OS 10.5 software security patches for the Nord, which is
as the company’s other phones. the kind of commitment you’ll struggle to
If you haven’t used a OnePlus phone find outside of Apple. It’s a promise that
before, Oxygen is arguably the best if you get a Nord, it should stick with you
Android skin around right now. It’s clean for at least two years if you want it to.
and simple to use, but packed with
customization options if you want them, Verdict
along with a few custom features like The OnePlus Nord is the best mid-range
the distraction-free Zen Mode and the phone in the world right now. It looks
Fnatic-sponsored gaming mode. and feels like a phone twice its price,
Disappointingly, OnePlus still hasn’t with a display and main camera lens to
added an always-on display to its OS, match. The 765G processor more than
but the company assures fans than one holds its own, and all of the camera
is on the way, and it should be added lenses are solid except the forgettable
within the next year. macro shooter.
OnePlus has actually stripped Oxygen More importantly, you won’t find
back ever so slightly for the Nord by better at this price, or a better selection
shipping the phone with Google’s of the priority features for most users
Messages and Phone apps, rather than on a budget, with luxuries like wireless

112 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 81

charging or an OTT 120Hz refresh rate • Non-removable 4,115mAh lithium-
ditched in favour of a focus on the polymer battery
fundamentals. The Nord would be a • Fast charge 30 watts
good buy at £100 more – at this price, • 158.3x73.3x8.2mm
it’s a steal. Dominic Preston • 184g

Specifications
• 6.44in (2,400x1,080; 408ppi) Fluid
AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• Android 10, OxygenOS 10.0
• Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G
(7nm) processor
• Octa-core (1x 2.4GHz Kryo 475 Prime,
1x2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz
Kryo 475 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 620 GPU
• 6GB/8GB/12GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB/256GB storage
• Four rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, f/1.8,
26mm (wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8µm, PDAF,
OIS; 8Mp, f/2.3, 119-degree (ultra-
wide); 5Mp, f/2.4, (depth); 2Mp, f/2.4,
(macro)
• Dual selfie camera: 32Mp, f/2.5, (wide),
1/2.8in, 0.8µm; 8Mp, f/2.5, 105-degree
(ultra-wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12µm
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi dual-band
• Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
• GPS with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS,
GALILEO, BDS, SBAS, NavIC
• NFC
• USB 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible
connector, USB On-The-Go
• Fingerprint scanner (under display)

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